Since Fen is in India for two months, some of her good friends, Marcie and Bobby, from good old Lancaster, planned a trip to come hang out with her here. How awesome is that? They flew in this morning and came to meet us at our hostel. It is a bit surreal to be sitting in the middle of nowhere in India having breakfast and suddenly have two familiar faces from your own side of the world walk up to you. Very cool. It was also a bit weird to be around people who had just come from my hometown, to be talking about Lancaster in a current way, talking about a shop on Queen Street or something that just happened to someone we know. It all just seems sooo far away and remote at this point, and yet it's my own home.So speaking of surreal.... One of my main objectives on this trip was to come to India. And one of my main objectiv
es in India was to get to see the Taj Mahal. Oh my. I think because I have seen so many images of the Taj Mahal throughout my lifetime, because it's one of the most recognizable structures in the world, because I've read so much about it, seen it in so many movies, wanted to come here for so long and have imagined it so many times, actually being there and standing in front of it felt absolutely, completely surreal.
es in India was to get to see the Taj Mahal. Oh my. I think because I have seen so many images of the Taj Mahal throughout my lifetime, because it's one of the most recognizable structures in the world, because I've read so much about it, seen it in so many movies, wanted to come here for so long and have imagined it so many times, actually being there and standing in front of it felt absolutely, completely surreal. What was also surreal was making our way there down the dirty, dusty, smelly streets filled with beggars and then going through a small gate and suddenly, right there on the other side, separated by only a few in
ches of stone, walking into a world of such opulence and beauty and serenity. I'm sure the people that live here also find that to be surreal. Either way, walking through that gate and getting the first glimpse of it through the archway was SO exciting. I suddenly got a little giddy about how cool it was to actually be there.
ches of stone, walking into a world of such opulence and beauty and serenity. I'm sure the people that live here also find that to be surreal. Either way, walking through that gate and getting the first glimpse of it through the archway was SO exciting. I suddenly got a little giddy about how cool it was to actually be there.We spent a lot of time walking around, marveling, and then we coughed up the dough for a guide in the main building and got some facts cleared up. It is indeed a fact that the Taj Mahal was built as a memorial by a Shah for his most favored wife (as she should have been... she bore him 14 children in 19 years!!). What wasn't true
, as I had previously thought, was that he died without ever getting to see it finished. Turns out he did live to see it... he was just inconveniently imprisoned by his own son who didn't agree with spending so much money on it. Apparently, the Shah was planning to build another equally grand memorial for himself, which is when his son put his foot down and thew old pops in the slammer. I guess he didn't like the idea of his whole inheritance being squandered on a mausoleum . Funny how princes can be like that.
, as I had previously thought, was that he died without ever getting to see it finished. Turns out he did live to see it... he was just inconveniently imprisoned by his own son who didn't agree with spending so much money on it. Apparently, the Shah was planning to build another equally grand memorial for himself, which is when his son put his foot down and thew old pops in the slammer. I guess he didn't like the idea of his whole inheritance being squandered on a mausoleum . Funny how princes can be like that. So the world will have to live with just one Taj Mahal but, really, it's amazing enough on its own. It was built in the 1630s and 164
0s, and it took 20,000 laborers 22 years to build. Seventeen of those years were spent solely on the "main" building, the mausoleum. In the other five, they built the two mosques and all of the surrounding gates, walls and other buildings (can you tell we paid for the tour?).
0s, and it took 20,000 laborers 22 years to build. Seventeen of those years were spent solely on the "main" building, the mausoleum. In the other five, they built the two mosques and all of the surrounding gates, walls and other buildings (can you tell we paid for the tour?). What is most impressive, however, is that the whole thing is perfectly symmetrical (hence the two mosques, one on each side). When you're inside, where the casket of the Shah's wife lays, you can see the center line and every single thing from there out on either side is perfectly symmetrical. Every tile, every fountain, every design, every post, every arch. Everything. With one minor exception: Since the shiek was planning for his own mausoleum to be built (until his bratty son locked him up), he planned that that Taj Mahal would only hold his wife. So 
her casket is the very center of absolutely everything, the point from which everything else goes out. But then when he died and didn't have his own place as planned, they didn't know where to put him, so they plunked him down right next to his wife, totally off center, totally throwing off the symmetry and placed sticking out like a sore thumb. Oops.
her casket is the very center of absolutely everything, the point from which everything else goes out. But then when he died and didn't have his own place as planned, they didn't know where to put him, so they plunked him down right next to his wife, totally off center, totally throwing off the symmetry and placed sticking out like a sore thumb. Oops. We went for dinner to get some.... wait for it.... Indian food. I wonder how much garlic naan a citizen of the United States is allowed to carry across the border upon her return? I shall investigage it. I also tried the national beer, Kingfisher. For a gal who isn't that crazy about beer, I actually really liked it. India is teaching me all sorts of things.
Since Marcie and Bobby are only in India for 10 days, they had to move on tonight to the next place (their itinerary is absolute, total lunacy; Marcie is fondly referred to as The Tank) and they took little Fen with them. So now it is just me and Sarah again. We're going to miss her... she was a very cool addition to our adventure!
P.S. The picture with the random people were an Indian family that asked if they could take their picture with us. Happens a lot, I now have lots of pics of me and random Indian people. Kinda cool.
No comments:
Post a Comment