Luxury and Love

An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have.
   -- Andy Warhol


If I had planned my trip knowing what I know now, I would have done it in reverse.  I was excited about volunteering, but even more excited about getting to see India.  I enjoyed my days at the clinic, but it was hard to concentrate on anything other than planning my weekend adventures.  

My first weekend in India I traveled with the other volunteer.  He had come with a friend from college who was working with disabled children in Delhi so on Friday evening, the two of us took a bus to Bharatpur where we met up with the friend at a guest house.  In the morning, we made friends with 2 German guys who were also there to see the Keoladeo Ghana National Park, home to over 230 species of birds.


I've never been much of a bird watcher but was honestly sold on the fact that bicycles could be rented inside the park.  Also, Bharatpur is about an hour away from Agra so it was an easy day stop before going to see the Taj Mahal the next day.

The five of us hired a guide from the guest house and set out on bicycles to explore.  Since the 1700s, Keoladeo had been a popular hunting ground for maharajas.  There was even a monument commemorating the number of birds killed on an annual duck hunt day, which was in the thousands for some years.  In 1972, Keoladeo became a national park and the annual duck hunts ended.  We also explored some downtown and saw the fort.

No matter how seemingly small the towns I visited seemed, they all had forts.  It took less than 15 minutes to walk through downtown Bharatpur and as we came to the other edge of town, we "found" a massive fort and moat.  Surreal.  When I moved to Boston, I was amazed at how old the buildings were.  Paled in comparison to India.   


We took a bus to Agra that night.  We started waiting at a smaller bus stop.  After an hour of waiting on the side of the road in the cold as buses passed us by I was insisting that we needed to get to the official bus stand despite the other guys insisting that we didn't need to waste 50 rupees (about $1) on a took took.


Get into the took took! I'm paying!


Its easy to get carried away with budgeting while traveling but I'm all about paying the extra dollar for the extra luxury.  Just because I'm budgeting doesn't mean I have to torture myself.

We ended up waiting another hour + at the bus stop, so by the time we got to the guest house in Agra, it was past midnight and freezing.  I was tired but ran up the steps to the roof top and could see the Taj illuminated in the distance by the moonlight and city light.

Despite being tired, I woke up early to see the sunrise around the Taj.  The sun came up opposite the Taj, but it was still beautiful in the morning light.  The Taj Mahal is one of those monuments that is so characteristically touristy of India but still everyone really should see it.  It is easy to take a good picture of the Taj because it is absolutely impossible to make it look bad.  Conversely, no picture really does it justice.  Seeing it was like a dream.


The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan, for his second wife, Mumtaz.  Mumtaz was the favored wife despite being second.  She was Persian and very beautiful.  She also had 14 children, while the other wives had none.  


During her life, Shah Jahan told her that he would build a monument to their love, so that people thousands of years later could look upon it and remember the love that they had for each other.  It was intended to be a palace for her, but she died during childbirth #14.  He started construction the same year, but as a mausoleum.  It took 22 years to build, completed in 1653 and is made of marble, inlaid with semi-precious stones.

While I am touched by this story of love, Shah Jahan must have loved himself just as much.  After completion of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan started construction on a black "Taj Mahal" across the river from the site of his wife's grave.  Plans for the construction exceeded the costs of the first monument, and Shah Jahan's own son had him "imprisoned" in Agra fort.  


Just saying, but I saw where he was "imprisoned" and they can "imprison" me there any day.  Just saying.


From the fort, Shah Jahan was able to see his beautiful monument down the river.  He died in the fort and his son had his body floated down the river where it was buried alongside Mumtaz. 


Shah Jahan's body is the only non-symetrical aspect to the Taj Mahal.


In India, they do luxury right.