Agra doesn’t have much of a variety of attractions. It has an old Mughal fort built by Shah Jahan (seeing a theme from the last post about Delhi?) and the world-famous Taj Mahal.
Construction on the Taj began in 1632 on the orders of – you guessed it – Shah Jahan. It is a mausoleum for his third and favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Three of the minarets are currently under restoration. To the left of the main building is an important mosque built at the same time. To maintain symmetry, there is an identical building on the opposite side that serves no purpose except to balance the architecture.
The mosque is built with red sandstone and marble. The qibla wall is below.
The intricate stone inlay work was beautiful. It is formed for individual pieces of stone inlaid into the marble of the mausoleum. At the bottom of the photo, you can see the carved marble.
A view of the outside showing more of the inlay and carving.
The Taj was truly one of the most impressive sights in India. I spent nearly an hour sitting in the mosque and admiring the building from the side in awe of the beauty and skill involved. If it wasn’t so hot, I would have stayed even longer. It’s mesmerizing in a way, brilliant white set against the backdrop of the sky.
