“The Taj Mahal is the greatest architectural achievement of the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture. Apart for its tremendous romantic appeal, it is a masterpiece of architectural style, in conception, treatment and execution, all alike.”
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- Lewis the Lion with his entrance ticket to the Taj Mahal
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- Lewis the Lion checks out his Taj Mahal postcard book
Lewis the Lion was super excited – after lunch he was set to visit one of the most popular tourist destination’s in the world: the Taj Mahal. Of course he had arrived in Agra on the Indian national holiday so the queues to get into the site were crazy. They normally have visitor numbers of approximately 45,000 a day but with the holiday, Dushyant (Lewis the Lion’s travel guide) he figured that it might have been as many as 80,000! Lewis the Lion laughed at the thought. When he’d visited Easter Island, they’d be lucky to get 50,000 visitors over the whole year! What a contrast! He was however grateful that Dushyant had purchased their entrance tickets in advance as it meant that they sped up through the queues a little bit more quickly. (Lewis the Lion thought that it was a bit of a bargain at 750 rupees – approximately £7.50). It was almost like going through an airport as you needed to walk through a scanner and have your bags checked before entering. Lewis the Lion decided that because he didn’t want to offend anybody, (being a religious site as well), it was best that he kept his head down, hidden in Helen’s bag for the duration of the trip but he did take some sneaky photos of Helen and her friends which you can see in the picture gallery below.
The Taj Mahal, a mausoleum, was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (completed in 1663) in memory of his third and favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal who gave him 14 children. She suffered in child-birth with the last one and when her husband came back from battle, she told him three things:
1) that he must love all 14 children equally
2) that he must never marry again
3) that he must show the world how much he loved her. Thus the Taj Mahal was built, meaning ‘Crown of Palaces’.
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- The Taj Mahal is framed by the doorway
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- The iconic Taj Mahal
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- Shoes are covered up to enter the famous mausoleum
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- Lewis the Lion admires the Taj Mahal from below
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- Looking back at the Gatehouse Entrance
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- Some of the beautiful marble inlay work on the Taj Mahal
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- The crowds swarm to enter the Taj Mahal
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- One of the mosques is purely decorative!
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- The first verse of the Qur’an is written above the door frame
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- The softer light of twilight falls on the Taj Mahal
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- Helen and her friends sit in the Taj Mahal Gardens
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- The G-Adventure group pose by the Taj Mahal
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- Parakeets swoop around in the twilight
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- Looking at the Taj Mahal over the Agra rooftops
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- The group admire the view of the Taj Mahal from a cafe rooftop
Lewis the Lion could see that the Taj Mahal is perfectly symmetrical. There are even two mosques positioned to the East and West of the mausoleum but only one is used as it faces Mecca. (The other is just decorative). The four pillars do not stand at 90 degrees but are tilted slightly.
The queen’s coffin lies directly through the centre of the mausoleum and her husband’s coffin is the only thing asymmetrical in the whole place. Originally he was going to be buried in a Black Taj across the river but then he changed his mind and wanted to be buried next to his wife. ‘Perhaps it was gazing out on it from his tower prison in the Agra Fort that did it?’ thought Lewis the Lion.
In spite of the huge number of visitors that day, it still felt like such a sanctuary of calm: quite bewildering really, Lewis thought to himself! It was wonderful to contemplate all of the world VIPs that had visited this site over the years, including Princess Diana. Lewis the Lion couldn’t quite believe that she’d managed to clear the site for her iconic photo sat alone on a bench?!
The time seemed to rush by in a haze, the whole time, Lewis the Lion’s eyes transfixed on the beauty of the Taj. The changing light of the evening cast a different, and another magical glow on the building and back at the gate-house, Lewis loved to see the brightly coloured parakeets swooping around in the warm evening.
But the awe and wonder did not stop there, as Dushyant had another surprise for the travellers. He took them to a rooftop terrace to see the Taj at sunset. Lewis the Lion slowly sipped on his new favourite Indian drink: a chai masala and felt a deep contentment as he watched over the magnificent Taj Mahal.
Lewis the Lion thought that the building of the Taj Mahal is an enormous gesture of love which has stood the test of time – perhaps the greatest example of romance that he’d ever seen in his little life. However, he also knows that true love is not in the grand gestures but in the little things that we do for each other to show that we care. How can you show love to those around you on a daily basis? Your parents? Your family? Your friends?
