(Part 5) In India Like a Local: Revisiting the Old Capital - Agra!!

- March 29, 2018, Thursday.

- A one week trip to India for an "indophile" (i.e. someone who like all- hings Indian) like me is surely not enough, and squeezing in two cities for a single week was already quite difficult for my adventurous self. However, while I was planning my trip, my heart kept knocking on my brain and said that I must spend one day in the ancient Mughal capital of Agra. Agra is a sleepy, laid-back city in the heart of the state of Uttar Pradesh, but don't let its sleepiness fool you; as an ancient capital, it is a treasure chest that attracts tourists from all over the world. It's biggest jewel? What else, but the Taj Mahal. Now, I've been to Agra twice before this trip (see here and here,) but it always brings me much joy and nostalgia to bask in the glory of this marbled wonder.

- There are many ways going to Agra, but this is one of the rare times that I played a bit safe. I booked an Agra day trip with my hostel, Bloomrooms @ Delhi Railway Station, and currently costs 7000 rupees. This includes the car, driver, and guide, and not inclusive of entrance tickets, lunch, and of course, your voluntary tips to the driver and/or guide. Another usual and convenient way to go to Agra is by riding the long-distance train. However, there are several reasons why I chose to pay for a day-trip service. First, while it might be easy to book a train ticket and ride it, once you reach Agra, it would be quite hassling to go around despite the different options in getting around (like dealing with rickshaw driver who do not want to use the meter.) This will waste a lot of time. Second, the Taj Mahal has several entrances that are not located on the main street (so it may take a while to find them.) Third, it would be nice to have a photographer inside the Taj Mahal (aka, my tour guide,) since I traveled alone and wouldn't have anyone to take my photos; tripods aren't allowed inside the Taj Mahal (as with many other tourist sites in India,) and it would be hard to ask people to take my picture-perfect profile-photo-worthy Taj Mahal photo (just pray that your tour guide knows how to take decent photos.) Finally, I was of course worried about going back to Delhi especially if it happens that I arrive late at night; Delhi isn't exactly the safest city. With all these considerations, I concluded that booking a car with tour service was the best bet. (I had no regrets.)

- My driver met me at the early morning of Thursday (by the way, the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays,) and left on a nearly 4-hour drive to Agra. We met my guide and off I was whisked to the Taj Mahal. This was the first time that I entered the Taj through the western gate; the other entrances are the eastern and southern gate. Entrance to the Taj is currently 1000 rupees for foreigners, but as it is the "VIP" ticket, those with it can use the "fast lane," which I guess is what you pay for anyway. Also, it is a wise idea to start the day with the Taj Mahal, since holding on to your Taj Mahal ticket can grant you discounts to the entrance fees for the other sites in Agra like the Agra Fort or Akbar's Tomb in Sikandra, that is, if you entry those other places within the same day.

Entrance to the Taj.

See the details?? Everything has to be perfect!!

This is perhaps one of my favorite views of the Taj.

I swear, nothing in the world compares to the Taj's perfection. I'm not even kidding.

- The Taj Mahal was built in the 1600s by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It is a mausoleum built for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during the birth of their 14th child. Shah Jahan was eventually buried here, right beside Mumtaz Mahal. Today, the tomb that can be seen in the main chamber are just replicas, since the original ones are below the ground for better preservation. No photos are allowed inside.

It's not plain white, and I've always loved how the details are subtle and ornate at the same time.

Quranic verses.

Everything should be perfect. The colorful flowers are actually gemstones that are like puzzle pieces. The marble slabs are carved with designs, and the puzzle pieces are supposed to fit in them easily.

Facing the gate

I am so thankful that my tour guide knows how to take excellent photos.

The site of what is supposed to be the black Taj Mahal (but it was never built.)

View of the Agra Fort and the Yamuna River.

- The structure is made of white marble and appears like a mosque, but it isn't. There is a mosque, however, to its left (if you're facing the Taj.) The Mughals were obsessed with symmetry and perfection, so much so that they made an identical building across the mosque to the right side of the main mausoleum, and was used only once as a guesthouse. (It was really there mainly for the symmetry.) The marble minarets, or the "towers" are angled a few degrees outward, so that when there is an earthquake, the towers won't fall towards the mausoleum. 

The one-time guesthouse.

View from the guesthouse.

Parts of a whole.

Indian architecture is always a wonder.

My tour guide was my hero that day.

A perfect day.

- Right after going around the Taj Mahal, I asked my tour guide if he could take a perfect Taj Mahal photo for me. This was the moment of truth. I was surprised when he started shouting at the other people there to move aside so we can take our photo!! When the other people asked why, he gave a perfect response (roughly translated to English): "let us take our photo without you people in it, so later you can take your photos without us (photobombing your photos.)" And thus, even though I was quite bothered that my tour guide always seemed to be in a hurry, he was able to take Instagram-worthy photos of me at the Taj and even in the other places in Agra that we visited.

My tour guide and his photography skills.

This shot was totally my tour guide's idea. 

This will forever be one of my favorite places in the world.

Angled.

- After visiting the Taj Mahal, I was brought to a marble shop where marble inlay work was done. This is one of the things I don't usually like when I join tours; you're forced to be brought to places where you don't want to buy anything, and it wastes your time. If you're like me who's very particular with time when traveling, then this is one of the things that you need to prepare for. In my case, I already knew about these things as I have experienced them, so I factored them in my time for the day. The marble emporium had a lot of nice marble inlay work, but I was not interested, so I didn't buy anything. Despite that, it was nice to see the workers work on the marble inlay. It is said that these people are descendants of those who built the Taj Mahal - there might be some truth to that because of India's caste system, where your occupation and place in society is supposedly bound by your birth and destiny (this is the simplest way I can explain this.) The stones used include onyx, malachite, turquoise, and other colorful stones that were imported from all over the world, like Belgium and Persia.

Short rickshaw ride from the Taj Mahal to the parking place.

Workshop, these people are shaping stones.

Lapis lazuli, topaz, malachite, turquoise, etc. etc. etc.

This is set to become a rose.

Marble inlay work, "behind the scenes."

- I had lunch after visiting the marble shop, and was brought to another shop, this time, a gem shop, where I was shown the different characteristics and "powers" of the gems, and of course, I was brought to their shop where I didn't buy anything again. However, part of the rush was because I needed time to go to the Agra Fort. The Agra Fort is the main palace in Agra, and is a few kilometers away from the Taj Mahal.

Moo.

Entrance to the Fort.

Jahangiri Mahal. (Jahangir's Palace.) Come to think of it, I haven't been inside Jahangir's Palace. Hmmm. (Saw some photos online and it's quite empty inside but it'd still be interesting to see it up close because of the architecture.)

Marble from tower to floor!!

Inside one of the viewing decks.

- The Agra Fort is another one of my favorites because of the story that links this Fort to the Taj Mahal. At the viewing decks, there is a particular balcony where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his own son, Aurangzeb. Shah Jahan was imprisoned due to his discontent with his father's lavish spendings, and of course, Aurangzeb's yearn for the Mughal throne. Shah Jahan's only wish was that he be imprisoned somewhere where he can see his love, Mumtaz Mahal, everyday. This particular balcony, which is not accessible to the public, has the perfect view of the Taj Mahal from across the Yamuna River.

That tiny thing is the Taj Mahal!!

The balcony where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by Aurangzeb.

I can't help thanking the Lord for giving me such a talented tour guide.

He event told me to stand at this doorway because of the framing!!

The forbidden balcony.

- The other main parts of the palace include the receiving halls, Diwan-i Khas (for special guests) and Diwan-i Am (for commoners.) Although the fort was nice as it looks today, I still couldn't help imagining how awesome this must have been during the Mughal era in the 16th-18th centuries when the whole palace was decorated with more gold, gems, furniture, carpets, and other things. These are the things I can only see in period films or period TV series (which is why I usually like watching them.)

From Diwan-i Khas.

Onyx throne.

Close up of the Taj Mahal from the Agra fort.

Other side of Diwan-i Khas.

Diwan-i Am. 

Indian arches are a unique blend of Islamic and Hindu influences.

Another idea of my tour guide.

Instagram worthy!!

- My tour guide said farewell after my Agra Fort palace tour, and my driver whisked me off to Akbar's Tomb in Sikandra, which is a suburb in Agra. Built in the 1600s, Akbar's tomb is one of the more colorful Mughal-era structures as it has more hues of green, blue, and yellow on top of the usual red and white.

The gate to Akbar's Tomb.

This is the interior, Akbar's tomb is just straight ahead.

- As I only had around 20-30 minutes inside the tomb, since it was already getting late, I marched right ahead to Akbar's tomb at the center of the mausoleum. Photography isn't allowed inside, according to the caretaker who was there, uh, taking care of the tomb. Had I more time, it would've been nice to go around the mausoleum, more and see the other royalty buried alongside Akbar the Great. One of the reasons why I insisted on visiting Akbar's tomb is because he was known as the Mughal emperor who promoted openness and tolerance to different religions. Akbar himself, who was Muslim, was married to women of different religions. This is actually a good political move, but for those who wish to see this from a more "romantic" (or more appropriately, "romanticized") light, Akbar's openness to other religions was an example that many Indians can follow. This side of Akbar was even made into a Bollywood film, and one of my favorites actually, called "Jodhaa Akbar." This concentrates on the love story of the Muslim Akbar (played by Hrithik Roshan,) and the Hindu Jodhaa Bhai (played by Aishwarya Rai.)

See the range of colors?

Perfect lighting. Also, spot the Quranic verses painted in gold?

- After my brief visit to the tomb, I went back to my driver, who had a surprise for me. See, my driver had been one of the most accommodating and one of the chattiest fellow around, which made the long drive to and from Agra quite bearable. Now on the way back to Delhi from Agra, he gave me a bottle of beer, called Kingfisher, and is said to be one of India's favorite beers. He was actually telling me about it during our morning drive to Agra. I was surprised that he actually bought a (rather big) bottle, even though I had mentioned earlier that day that I don't really drink. But since he treated me to a bottle, and with nothing much to do on the road back to Delhi, I slowly drank the bottle. In hindsight, it was a bit dangerous to accept alcoholic drinks from strangers - even from my driver who I "sort of knew" - but nothing happened to me and I figured that my driver was just really proud of their own beer (like how Filipinos are proud of San Miguel Beer.) The beer was not too alcoholic anyway, so I didn't become drunk or anything like that. I was also drinking water in between sips of beer so it would wash the alcohol down.

- I reached Delhi around 10pm, and thankfully the cozy restaurant beside my hostel was still open, I had a late dinner and had a deep sleep from my full day out of Delhi. I was happy that I had another opportunity to revisit Agra, and come to think of it, it would be a nice idea to spend a bit more time in Agra next time as there are still more things to explore in that sleepy old capital. While I couldn't wipe of the smile off my face because of my nice photos in Agra, thanks to my tour guide, as well as the new things that I learned, I was more excited to continue my adventures in Delhi!!   

- Don't forget to read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 6 here, and Part 7 here!!