Agra - New Pictures
I completed uploading the rest of the pictures to the "Nepal to India" folder and added a new folder chock-full-o-goodness to one entitled "Agra." Check 'em out. If you overdose on architectural images, I am not to be held responsible - - this batch is heavy on temples and tombs. You will be relieved that none of the images contained my scruffy, moustachioed mug within them. Be assured, however, that at all these featured locations, several happy Indian tourists went home with a picture on their roll of some beaming idiot they had never met before and will likely never again. The requests for pictures continues unabated. I have developed several new poses, including the "Salute" and my new favorite "The Doffing of the Cap." A very popular one, I assure you. When witnessing its delivery in other portraits at the Taj Mahal yesterday, several Indian tourists who had their doubts about my usefulness as a model were immediately convinced and rushed right over for their turn in line.
Yes, I went to the Taj Mahal yesterday. Yes, I paid my 750 Rs entrance fee (that is almost $20 US, folks!). Yes, it was crowded.
What did I think?
It was beautiful. I don't know what else to say. There is a reason the thing has been around for so long. Despite the hordes of tourists (most of which were Indian!) and that regulated, almost tawdry feeling you get from a place that is set up to accomodate hundreds of thousands of people a year, the Taj is incredibly beautiful and feels immune to the masses that clutter about it and frantically snap pictures (myself included, but those are on a roll that is not yet done, so you will have to wait, too).
I was actually a bit in awe when I first walked in, and paused for a moment or twenty on a bench, contemplating her (you don't mind if I personalize it, do you?). Much like sighting a beautiful woman across a room that you want to talk to, I felt it would be improper to charge across the space and vault up the steps, throwing myself against the walls or some such. Instead, I came around by the side, through a much less crowded throughfare than the central walk, and in such a manner contemplated her from several sides before daring to walk up and into the tomb itself. For, as most of you might know, it is a tomb, designed and built for a woman by a man in great grief. The details are not important; you can look them up if you want.
The inside is dimly lit by one single chandelier, one of those wrought metal orbs with thin Arabic filagree carving that allows light to come through, and it hangs down from the central dome. The cenotaphs of the great man and woman lie in the center of this space - - a cenotaph is a sort of fake coffin, it seems, as the real bodies are actually interred below this space.
The dimly lit room is the only one you can visit in the Taj, and the opening to get in (as well as out) is very small, so it is a bit of a bottleneck. The whole affair was really a crowded mess, and it was the only point that marred the whole visit. I wished I had come at dawn when no one is reputed to ever be there. Next time. And, for a budget view, you could go across the river and view her as well, since the Taj is right there at the banks of the Yamuna.
Altogether, a great thing, though. And, more importantly, now I can answer "Yes!" to the one question that the majority of people who know a limited amount about India will certainly ask me when they discover I have been there: "India, huh? So, like, did you see the Taj Mahal?"
Yes, I went to the Taj Mahal yesterday. Yes, I paid my 750 Rs entrance fee (that is almost $20 US, folks!). Yes, it was crowded.
What did I think?
It was beautiful. I don't know what else to say. There is a reason the thing has been around for so long. Despite the hordes of tourists (most of which were Indian!) and that regulated, almost tawdry feeling you get from a place that is set up to accomodate hundreds of thousands of people a year, the Taj is incredibly beautiful and feels immune to the masses that clutter about it and frantically snap pictures (myself included, but those are on a roll that is not yet done, so you will have to wait, too).
I was actually a bit in awe when I first walked in, and paused for a moment or twenty on a bench, contemplating her (you don't mind if I personalize it, do you?). Much like sighting a beautiful woman across a room that you want to talk to, I felt it would be improper to charge across the space and vault up the steps, throwing myself against the walls or some such. Instead, I came around by the side, through a much less crowded throughfare than the central walk, and in such a manner contemplated her from several sides before daring to walk up and into the tomb itself. For, as most of you might know, it is a tomb, designed and built for a woman by a man in great grief. The details are not important; you can look them up if you want.
The inside is dimly lit by one single chandelier, one of those wrought metal orbs with thin Arabic filagree carving that allows light to come through, and it hangs down from the central dome. The cenotaphs of the great man and woman lie in the center of this space - - a cenotaph is a sort of fake coffin, it seems, as the real bodies are actually interred below this space.
The dimly lit room is the only one you can visit in the Taj, and the opening to get in (as well as out) is very small, so it is a bit of a bottleneck. The whole affair was really a crowded mess, and it was the only point that marred the whole visit. I wished I had come at dawn when no one is reputed to ever be there. Next time. And, for a budget view, you could go across the river and view her as well, since the Taj is right there at the banks of the Yamuna.
Altogether, a great thing, though. And, more importantly, now I can answer "Yes!" to the one question that the majority of people who know a limited amount about India will certainly ask me when they discover I have been there: "India, huh?
posted by JAshby at 5:59 AM
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