Seeing the Taj Mahal through child’s eyes
As a child I was obsessed with the 1,001 Tales of the Arabian Nights. I read every story I could find; practised sliding my head back-and-forth, palms together above my head, like an Arabian dancer; and painted murals on my bedroom walls of genies materializing out of bottles and fabulous, turret-topped maharajah palaces. Stories of the “exotic and mysterious east” have always fascinated me, and travelling in India is often, truly, a dream come true for me. But this manifestation of fantasy reached a new level recently when I visited Agra, the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri.
The Taj Mahal is everything and more than you imagine. It is one of the few times in life when no matter how much you have heard or read; no matter how many photographs you’ve seen; no matter how much hyperbole you’ve been exposed to: actually standing in front of the Taj Mahal exceeds every expectation you could possibly have by 1,001 miles.
It is the world’s most beautiful building. “A teardrop on the face of eternity,” as Rabindranath Tagore said. Nothing prepares you for the size (enormous), the colour (translucent white), the symmetry (perfect). I have seen it before, six years ago, but when I walked through the gate I was just as flummoxed as the first time. It’s a bit like falling in love. You feel bowled over, and unsure of yourself. You’re not sure which way to look — but you can’t get enough. You try to measure the size of the experience and your feelings, and you can’t. And you try and separate the myth from the reality, and it’s impossible.
The story behind Taj Mahal and its building — which is, after all, a mausoleum — is part of the structure, part of the experience. The Mughal emperor of India, Shah Jahan, began building it after the death of his beloved favourite wife Mumtaz. She had just borne him their 14th child (six survived). The statistics about the length of time it took to build, the number of workers, the amount of marble (quarried from Rajasthan) are as remarkable and I will not repeat them here.
For me, the Taj Mahal is all about the sheer magnificence in an overburdened land: it is located in Utter Pradesh, one of the hottest, poorest and most overpopulated states in India. Around it is extensive grounds, surrounded by a buffer area that is meant to protect the Taj Mahal from smog: no industry and no cars are allowed within several kilometres.
But then, when you get away from the Taj Mahal zone, and enter the city of Agra, you are confronted with the reality of life in U.P. Agra is famously chaotic in a land of chaotic cities, and the infrastructure is a disaster. I always recommend that people visit Agra — don’t let the stories of challenge deter you.
Mariellen Ward is a freelance travel writer whose personal style is informed by a background in journalism, a dedication to yoga and a passion for sharing the beauty of India’s culture and wisdom with the world. She has traveled for about a year altogether in India and publishes an India travel blog, Breathedreamgo.com. Mariellen also writes for magazines and newspapers.
