Agra, day 2

There are many places in the world that get hyped up as beautiful and great places to visit, but when you go, you realize they don't live up to the hype. The Taj Mahal is not one of them. It is one of the few buildings I have ever seen that is truly more glorious than I ever imagined. It is a white cloud that floats just above the horizon, until you get close to it and see the amazing detailed inlay that covers it from base to dome. Each design is made from precious and semi precious stones,  ground to exacting design and inlaid in marble with perfection. They say it glows in the moonlight (sadly, it was very foggy while we were there, so we didn't get to see the lighting effects of the building).

Taj Mahal, early morning, Agra

Our guide told us the story of why Shah Jahan built such an extravagant memorial for his beloved Mumtaz. While she was still alive, she realized that he loved her so much, that if she died before him, he would soon follow. So she asked him for two promises. First, that he would always take care of their 6 children, and second, that he would make something to show the world how much he loved her. He granted her promises,  and when she died he mourned without food for more than 10 days. Then he was reminded of his promises,  and set to work. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build, and cost 20 million rupees (500 years ago that was a whole lotta money).

Here are two quotes that my brother shared about the Taj Mahal:

Tagore: "It is the teardrop of eternity."
Kipling: "It is the white cloud through which all dreams pass."

We got to see the process of creating the marble inlay that is still done in Agra by the descendents of the crafters of the Taj. Amazingly detailed and beautiful.

Marble inlay work, as done on the Taj Mahal.

Our itinerary has changed a bit, so we headed over to Jaipur this afternoon. Jaipur has the famous pink palace.

As I write this, we are traveling to Jaipur. It is 4:30 in the afternoon, and I have just realized that I have not had coffee today. Oops. I guess that happens when the electricity in the neighborhood goes out right after you get up. Our hotel was so close to the Taj, we walked to the south gate and then the west gate in 5 minutes. 

The scenery so far in Rajasthan is beautiful.  It is quite flat in this part, but covered in mustard fields, with trees of various types standing like sentries every so often.  The mustard is harvested to make mustard oil for cooking, and the locals use it for health benefits also.

Rajasthan countryside, mustard fields

Yesterday,  Dad asked if the poverty here is similar to Bolivia.  It is quite similar,  though the scale is vastly different.  The main difference I see is in the attitude of the people. Bolivians are quite proud, and we were instructed there not to give people money or handouts, as it would insult their pride. Here, it seems that scavenging is a way of life for all creatures. Even the cows on the streets dig through the garbage to find something to eat. We can't walk anywhere without someone asking for food or money. We watched a monkey steal from a visitor at the Taj. Twice. This difference is probably due to two things: the Hindu belief in karma, and the caste system,  which is very much still alive in India. Both of those things instill a sense of being where you belong, wihout any way of moving forward. Hope is a powerful force for change.

We made it to Jaipur. We first went to the Monkey Temple, which is tucked away up in the mountains. True to its name, it is full of monkeys. A vedantic monastery for the worship of the monkey god, Hanuman, this temple is very old. We were shown around by a monkey expert, who gave us peanuts and showed us how to feed the monkeys. We were surrounded! He said there are about 3000 monkeys who live in the hills nearby, introduced us to the chief monkey, and told us stories about the gods depicted in the frieze paintings all over the monastery. Really fantastic.

Us at Monkey Temple, outside Jaipur

 

Feeding peanuts to the monkeys

Tonight our hotel is closer to what we are used to, maybe even with heat, but definitely with towels, hot water, and T.P.! I took a nice hot shower and washed our clothes. Here's hoping we don't lose power tomorrow morning.