Have you lost words on what you see before you? I have. One of it is when i saw Taj Mahal. The road to get here was long yet it was worth it. All the way from Amritsar – New – Delhi – Agra to see it.If you ever happen to go there, behold of the crowd. First, you will need to queue to get your ticket. There is a dedicated line for foreigner though it was also crowded during my visit. The ticket comes in a form of token that it’s good to be used for 3 hours. Yes, there is a limitation of how long you could stay inside. Nonetheless, Once you got in you will be welcomed by a view.
First, you will meet the entrance. There is a gate which connect the place where the workers who developed the building stay and Taj Mahal. That gate and border was built with red brick colour. During that time it has been said that the wall of the gate was full with artworks. Can you see a glimpse of the white Taj Mahal behind it?
The wall – pic by mondya p 
the gate – pic by mondya p
Moving forward into the red gate, you will be taken aback by the details. The symmetrical composition and all the sculpture all over the place but most importantly by the view of white taj.
Moving forward, the garden will welcome you with its beaut. The balance between left and right is always appetizing for the eyes. Not to mention the reflection within the surface of turquoise water. It has been said that Taj Mahal could change its colour. Too bad i wasn’t able to witness it. I hope you do.
When you are at the center, you could see that there are two buildings around the main building. The left one within the picture is a mosque while the right one is library. The mosque is still functioning and our guide told us that Taj is still closed during Friday prayer time so that the Muslim could do the prayer.
Going further to the center, we tried to enter the mail building from the left as we would like to visit the mosque. When i got there, i met the other Muslim as well and some are performing the prayer. The place of ablution is a pool in between the mosque and the white Taj Mahal. Don’t forget to take off your foot ware when you want to enter. Unfortunately the building has been a bit worn off. I think time has gotten its best out of it. I could only imagine how it looks like in its prime time. It must have been so pretty.
Finishing the mosque visit, we move to the center. Yes, you could enter the main building. We had to wear a protective layer wrapping our shoes. This is to protect the building from any damage. It’s all white marble guys… wow.. just wow. Eaten by the marvelous bulding, There i was went to the queue to get inside. Please exercise your patient as in the inside could only accommodate limited number of people at a time and was a bit dark when i was there.
We couldn’t take picture inside the main building, though i saw many didn’t abide to this rules. Not for me though so i could only tell a story of what i saw. When you enter through the main door there lies the cenotaphs of the late queen and king. It was actually a bit of a chilling experience for me because the real one is actually beneath all of this crowd within the garden level. The cenotaphs was surrounded by a wall looks like an eight sided chamber. Not sure what is such form being called. (^_^”) basically what you could do is look around circling that chamber from entrance through exit by using the same door.
The highlight from the queue experience and seeing the Taj up close, i can’t help but mesmerized. Did you know the pattern within Taj Mahal wall? it’s not painted guys. It’s either made by sculpting the marble or planted the stone within the marble. That amount of works was just crazy. It blew my mind. You could take a look below. Do you see it? the flower pattern was carved. The green, yellow, red colour are stone. it’s not painted! Oh My God. I can’t think of how much does it cost to build this and the dexterity level. Mesmerizing.
Moving forward to the back of Taj Mahal, you could see the river. Over the river at the opposite of Taj Mahal you will see a vast open space. That was the place that has been cleared out by Shah Jahan to build another Taj Mahal in Black. The foundation has been put in place the work has never been finished though had it been finished it will definitely become another world famous story.
The look of the river marking the end of our stroll of Taj Mahal. We walked out from Taj Mahal right side this time to take a look of the building from another end. If you are a photography enthusiast this place offers you a lot of beautiful angle in which i can’t captured.
Wish you were there so that we could have a lot more beautiful memoirs.
As of now, this is me bidding a good bye to a place that has been on my wish list for so long. See you when i see you and may you stand tall for the years to come. Thank you for being there and become the inspiration of one of my favourite disney story – Aladdin. It really is a whole new world. 🙂
Cheers!
Triana Mustika Rukmi
Wanderer 