India #3 Agra, Humuyan's Tomb, the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort

I feel that I should apologise for what is turning out to be a whole series of short posts. I can only blame the effects of Covid, which is leaving me with limited energy and powers of concentration. Please don't feel obliged to read them all. These are entirely here for my own benefit; a necessary aide memoire for the inevitable mental decline!

March 10th

We spent the morning catching our breath by the hotel pool. I did a bit of work on my holiday travel knitting and listened to Susan Hill's 'Woman in Black' on Audible. After checking out, our hire car and driver drove us to the Hotel Clarks Shiraz in Agra. We had intended travelling by train in India. Prices are cheap and the first class sleeper carriages look decidedly comfortable. Sadly, they book up very quickly and by the time we discovered a site which allowed us to actually pay for the tickets, they were all sold out. Hence the hire car and driver. Usually we don't mind driving ourselves when on holiday, but we couldn't face the Indian traffic!

Before our holiday began, my neighbour gave me a packet of Kwells for the flight. She knew that I hate flying and informed me that not only do they prevent travel sickness, but they also calm her down on long journeys. Sadly, I didn't find this to be the case. They did, however, cause such drowsiness that the subsequent car journeys flew by! My main memory of the journey to Agra was this little delight, hanging from the driver's rear view mirror. When he discovered me taking a photo, he very sweetly tried to give it to me. An offer which I felt necessary to decline.

A tuk tuk ride to the bazaar resulted in me buying a chapati pan - I think it's called a tawa. I often make them at home using a normal frying pan, but thought that this would make a nice souvenir. 

Dinner was at a restaurant called 'Sheroes'. Run by survivors of acid attacks, we were played a short documentary whilst we waited for our food to arrive. Some of the stories were horrific and included a woman whose mother-in-law dropped acid onto her face as she slept, for not providing her son with a boy. The only consolation was that the perpertrators appear to get life imprisonment, something that I couldn't see happening in the UK where sentences can sometimes appear shockingly short.

The dhal and aloo gobi were delicious. When we stood up to pay, one of the women noticed my tawa and asked if it was for me. I said yes but confessed that I rarely managed to make them completely round - sometimes seen a sign that you are ready for marriage as it indicates that you have been cooking for a long time. Mine tend to look like maps! There followed one of the highlights of the holiday for me. The women swept me up and took me into the restaurant kitchen, where they proceeded to give me a lesson in chapati making. They tried to teach me the wrist action necessary to obtain a perfect full moon. After cooking the chapati on the tawa on each side until it showed signs of bubbling, the chapati was placed directly in the gas flame until it puffed up completely.The ladies kindly applauded my efforts and assured me that all I needed was practise! They were adorable and we shared hugs before we left.

Look at how round that chapati is!

Back at the hotel, we discovered that there was to be a puppet show that evening. Curious, we went along. We were shown various puppets, including elephants for good luck, horses for power and camels for love. The puppet master had one of those devices that he put in his mouth to make the traditional noise. It was loud and more than a little annoying. R was wrapped up in a turban and L in a ready made one. We decided that this was to prevent our easy escape! The 3 puppet dances were mercifully short and the snake was definitely the best bit. Feeling very guilty, we scuttled away and took refuge in the bar. Here L and I instituted the tradition of an evening cocktail to share. It had to be something that we had never tried before and our first one was a Side Car (brandy, cointreau and lemon juice). We awarded it 3.5 out of 5 on our devised rating system.

March 11th

Breakfast consisted of a varity of curries and fruit. Papaya, or 'sewage mango' as R dubbed it, was included. I feel that papaya is something that I ought to like. It looks not disimilar to mango, which I love, but personally I find that it has a strangely off undertaste. Lime juice helps, as does (surprisingly) black pepper - something we tried after seeing an Indian woman applying some at breakfast.

The front of the hotel consisted of gardens lovingly tended by, apparently, one man. He saw us admiring his handiwork and tried to give us some seeds and a cutting of a huge rubber plant. We said that we probably wouldn't get it through Customs!

Then it was into a tuk tuk and off to the Taj Mahal; my much anticipated destination. The tree lined walk to the entrance was populated by monkeys. Unlike my later experience in Jaipur, these appeared quite docile. Despite this, before entry to the Taj Mahal, we were searched by security to ensure that no food was taken into the complex. I felt extremely guilty as the forgotten cereal bar and Polo mints that I was carrying for L in my bumbag were unceremoniously confiscated!

As in most of the places we visited, we were immediately accosted by would be tour guides. Here we succumbed and were very glad that we did. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, took photos galore and whisked us quickly through any potential delays. 

The main gateway to the Taj complex, through which the Taj Mahal is tantalisingly revealed:

Over the years since R first visited, he has sometimes felt a little guilty about our missing out and tried to downplay its beauty. What can I say? He lied! It is overwhelmingly beautiful, so much so that I actually cried.

A love story in structural form, it was commissioned by the 5th Mughal Emporer, Shah Jahan, to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. It also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. Legend has it that the idea was initially to build an exact black marble copy of the white marble Taj on the opposite bank of the Yamuna River. After being deposed by his son, however, Shah Jahan was put under house arrest at Agra Fort and upon his death, he was buried in the mausoleum beside his wife. His tomb consequently being the only assymetrical object present. Muslim tradition forbids the elaborate decoration of graves. Hence the bodies were put in a relatively plain crypt below the central dome, with their faces turned right towards Mecca. After the Taj fell into disrepair, British Viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908.

The 4 minarets all slope very slightly outwards so that, in the event of an earthquake, they won't fall on the central dome. For security reasons, the Taj Mahal isn't illuminated at night. As an added precaution, during wartime, the dome was covered with black cloth to avoid attracting attention and making it a target. The hooks that held the cloth in place are still visible.

 

The main finial on top of the Onion Dome - originally gold, it was replaced by one of gilded bronze in the late 19th century:

The Mosque:

With the Islamic prohibition of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements are either calligraphy,  abstract forms or vegetative motifs. As the surface area changes, or the decorations become higher up, the size of the designs are refined proportionally. So, the texts from the Quran become bigger, the higher up they are situated. Paint, stucco, stone inlays and carvings are all used to great effect. The inlay work consists of precious and semiprecious stones: coral; pearl; cornelian; jasper; lapis lazuli; onyx and topaz.

Before entering the monument, we were obliged to cover our shoes with natty blue paper shoe covers, provided with the ticket. After exiting the main building, our guide allowed us 15 minutes to just sit and 'feel' the Taj.

Upon leaving the Complex, we stopped for a freshly squeezed orange juice at a nearby cafe. The photo of the menu below was taken because that is how L used to pronounce it when she was tiny. I can still hear her little voice asking hopefully 'Shall we have a pooding?'.

Still not feeling ready for lunch, we decided to do the Taj Nature Walk, a 70 hectare wooded park with multiple walking trails and views of the Taj Mahal.

Chipmunks were everywhere:

Happy Cow then directed us to a nearby Veggie restaurant where we sat on the roof and enjoyed dhal and potato, pea and tomato curry with poppadoms and chapatis. It took a while to prepare but was worth the wait.

We spent the afternoon exploring the Agra Fort. Built primarily as a military structure, Shah Jahan turned it into a palace. Later it became his prison when his son seized power.

The Amar Singh Gate is the sole entry point. An inner gate, set at right angles causing a dog leg, provides an additional layer of security. It prevented attackers in a seige using elephants to crush the gates, as, without a straight run up, they fail to gather sufficient speed.

Agra Fort added an extra layer to the selfie debacle. Here a group of young women, having asked politely for a selfie, decided that they wanted videos of us dancing too. I'm not sure that a bunch of introverted, rhythmless English people was exactly what they had in mind. But then again, maybe it was! :O)

Bizarrely, we also encountered a large number of pastors (not the word we thought they said initially!). I'm still not sure if they wanted money or to convert us. We turned suspicious when they demanded our Facebook accounts, so smiling and claiming that we didn't have access to social media, we scuttled off.

We returned to our hotel and decided that, for a change, we would try the hotel's Chinese menu for dinner. That turned out to be a big, bad, bland mistake. 

The musicians partly made up for it:

As did the Long Island Iced Tea (vodka, gin, tequila, rum, triple sec and lime juice) in the bar afterwards. A score of 2.5 since you ask! A game of 'Pig Whiskey' (A family version of Pictionary) finished the evening.

Toodle pip for now. x