Travels in Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is the best-known building in the world and arguably the most
beautiful. The architecture is sublime but it is the story that the stones
embody that draws seven million visitors each year.

It is a monument to the great love between the Mughal emperor Shah Jehan
and his queen, Mumtaz Mahal. They could not bear to be parted and Mumtaz
would often travel with her husband even into war. It was on one such
campaign in 1631 that she died after giving birth to their 14th child.

Over the next 14 years Shah Jehan employed the empires best architects,
builders and craftsmen to design this vision in white marble, decorated with
precious and semi-precious stones sourced from all over Asia.
There is an on-going cleaning programme using Fullers earth to remove the
yellowing effects of air pollution from the mausoleum. Currently three of
the minarets are scaffolded and there are plans to clean the facade and
dome at some point over the next two years.

The perfect plan

1. Before you set out

Security at the Taj Mahal is very strict. What you can and cant bring into the tomb
complex often depends on who is operating the rather chaotic airport-style
security at the entrance gates (there have been instances where mobile phones are
not allowed).

Leave big bags and daypacks in your hotel, or with your driver, and carry only a small
bag containing essentials. You are allowed to bring in one camera and one mobile
phone per person. Video cameras are generally not allowed though sometimes you
can pay an extra fee for these at the ticket desk.

Banned items include anything edible including sweets, headphones, mobile

chargers, other electrical items including iPads, pens of any kind, torches, knives
and camera tripods.

2. Accessing the complex

To protect the Taj Mahal from further pollution, motor vehicles are not allowed
within 500 metres of the complex. There are three entrances: the West, South and
East Gates. The East Gate provides the easiest access from most hotels. Drivers must
drop visitors in the Shilgram Parking which contains the ticket office which is on the
right after going through the entrance gate. (Note that some hotel concierge desks
sell tickets to avoid queuing here.)

Show your entry ticket to pick up a free bottle of water and shoe covers from the
street-side kiosk next to the car park entrance. Electric carts and buses offer a
transfer service to the East Gate itself. If the queue is long, you can walk there is 15
minutes or hop into a cycle rickshaw for Rs 50 (55p) which can be negotiated down
from the ask of Rs 100 (1.10).

The tomb complex is wheelchair accessible.

3. Avoid the queues

On reaching the East Gate, you will find four lanes leading to security: foreign
women, foreign men, local women and local men. To see the Taj Mahal with the
fewest people, it is best to arrive at the West or East Gates at 6.30am in winter - half-
hour before it opens. (The South Gate doesnt open until 8am).

Joining the queue at 7am can mean a wait of 30 minutes to reach security as a
foreigner. If you dont want to get up that early - or it is a really foggy morning - the
queue is often shorter around 8.30am after the first rush to get in.

4. Getting a grip on the layout

The tomb complex is easy to navigate. Most visitors spend three hours here. All three
entrance gates lead into a large arcaded forecourt where, in the past, visitors would
dismount from their horses and palanquins. As you pass beneath the Great
Gate, theres a strong sense of passing from the bustling world of the city to the
serene world of the mausoleum.

Set in a symmetrical Persian-style garden with lawns and waterways divided by

wide paths, the mausoleum itself is flanked by two almost identical buildings: a
mosque and an assembly hall. On the left-hand-side theres also a small museum
containing plans for the original construction.

A big crowd is always found around whats now known by everyone as the Princess
Diana Bench which is situated on the far side of the pool on a platform above the
central water channel.

5. What about a guide?

In my view, guides here are a distraction. They rattle off the history and statistics and
dont give time just to sit quietly and marvel at the buildings ethereal perfection.
Rent a handheld audio guide instead. These are available next to the Shilpgram ticket
counter for Rs105 (1.15). You must leave photo ID as security.
You can also download the audio guide on to your iPhone for 2.99. Put
AudioCompass (audiocompass.in) into the App Store search.

Local professional photographers are also allowed into the complex and will want to
take a set of photographs of you in the best spots. The quality of their own prints is
generally poor (though some give out CD-roms). If you do want to use their services,
bargain hard and ask them to use your own camera.

6. Avoid the crowds

Arriving soon after dawn is the only sure way to avoid the crowds. From 10am until
sunset Indian tourists arrive in vast numbers and in large tour groups.

The mausoleum itself stands on a marble platform. Access is controlled to avoid

overcrowding. Put on your shoe covers and join the left-hand-side queue for
foreigners.

There is another queue to enter the mausoleum which contains marble cenotaphs to
Shah Jehan and Mumtaz Mahal decorated with floral designs using semi-precious
stones and surrounded by a carved marble screen. (These are memorial sarcophagi;
their tombs are on a lower inaccessible level.)

The pietra dura inlaid stone work around the walls is astonishingly fine. However,
its hard to see the detail in the gloom so use your phones torch.

There are aggressive, whistle-blowing security guards in the tomb room to keep
people moving along. The pushing and shoving worsens as the day progresses and
sadly you need to watch out for pickpockets too.

To avoid the afternoon crowds - and get beautiful sunset photographs of the Taj
Mahal - take a car or rickshaw across the Yamuna River to the restored Mehtab
Bagh gardens on the opposite bank. On the way visit the Baby Taj, the marble tomb
of Itimad-ud-Daula, father of Mumtaz Mahal.

7. Take a break

On exiting the East Gate after your visit go across to Cafe Coffee Day for coffee and
muffins, clean loos and welcome air-conditioning.
The practicals

How much?

Adults Rs 750 (8); children under 15 free

Opening hours?

Complex is closed on Fridays. East and West gates open dawn to dusk; South Gate
opens 8am-5pm.

Contact

Official website: tajmahal.gov.in

Getting there

The Ultimate Rajasthan tour

See Gill Charlton's perfect itinerary in Rajasthan for first-time visitors to India,
including advice on how to visit the best sights, the best value hotels, and some
fascinating places beyond the usual tourist trail.
DAFTAR PUSTAKA :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/agra/articles/The-Taj-
Mahal-Trip-of-a-Lifetime/