Agra

After touring Delhi, we got into our Tempo Traveler and began the 5 hour drive to Agra. On the way, we stopped at Jami Masjid Mosque, built in 1648 by Shah Jahan's favorite daughter, Jahanara Begum. Part of the mosque was demolished by the British in 1857. The royal stove is a famous attraction, where they heated the water for the courtyard.

Our next stop was the Agra Fort. This was by far the best fort that we saw along our trip. The Agra Fort was built by Emperor Akbar between 1565 and 1573. Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, once ruled over the Fort. As you can see from the pictures, there is a great view of the Taj from the Fort. He spent his entire life in the Fort, eventually dieing in his son's captivity, where he was locked in his bedroom for several dozens of years. His son questioned him for doing non-Muslim practices and spending a lot of money on things like the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan was planning to make another Taj Mahal, made of black marble, but his plan was stopped by his son. Shah Jahan's son also killed his brothers for practicing non-Muslim things. We were able to see the "Water Palace", or Machchhi Bhavan where the Emperors were able to bathe along with their several wives. You can see from some of the pictures on the slide show that the ceilings were covered with pieces of glass that reflected the candle light. Inside of the Fort, there were several beautiful mosques, like the "Jewel Mosque", the "Gem Mosque" and the "Pearl Mosque". We were also able to see how their showers looked. They just poured water down a chamber, where it ran down a slate and ran onto the person in the shower, as you can see from the pictures.

Next was the Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631. Mumtaz Mahal was his third and most beautiful wife. It took 20,000 laborers 12 years to built and cost nearly 41 million rupees, or over 1 million USD (quite a lot of money back then!). There isn't much else to say, the pictures pretty much say it all. Mark was able to smile for pictures, despite getting sick at lunch, but he wasn't able to make the trip into the tomb chamber. Inside the chamber were three or four empty tombs. We walked around them and then went back out. The actual tombs are kept in the in a crypt below and are closed to the public. The Taj was amazing and I'm sure we'll remember it clearly for the rest of our lives.