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Taj Mahal
Agra Fort
In the morning
27° 10' 16.6200" N 78° 2' 31.5900" EA feast for the Eyes
People have always told me (and I've seen it written on VT) that the first time you walk through the gate and your eyes see the Taj Mahal, you will have your breath taken away and be completely in awe.
It is True.
The architechts that designed it, used shapes and ratios that are known to please the mind. It truely is a work of art and you must see it with your own eyes to believe it. Every photograph you take of it will come out good. Alot of engineers, architechts, designers, slaves and animals were used to build it. It's still hard for me to imagine how perfectly it's built. The Taj Mahal is supposed to be a testament to how much a man loved his favorite wife (out of 80 or so that he had), Mumtaj. And one thought that came to my mind was, couldn't he have written her a poem or give her a hug or give her a nice gift. Of course, the guy was obsessed with building a very beautiful building that incorporated Hindu and Muslim themes. Mumtaj was a Hindu wife, I believe. But he had a lot of money and a lot of slaves.
In fact, it really struck me that his own son overthrew him and had him on house arrest during the end of his life. Alot of the kingdom's wealth was spent on building the Taj. He even planned on building an all black Taj for himself. His son probably thought that was a waste. You can find out just how expensive it was by looking at how many camels and elephants were used in the building. Even as beautiful as the building is, it makes me think this was kind of a pompous attempt of a really rich man to leave a monument behind.
At the end of the day, it is a very beautiful building--A great engineering feat, a testament to how a kingdom of men can build something grand to last many lifetimes and a great work of art--the designers had a great sense for aesthetics, and I'm sure the people that saw this Wonder of the World were surely inspired to build and love.
