Our trip with Larry and Roxanne continued from Delhi over to Agra. Agra is the site of the famous Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum that was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for the tomb of his third and favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is estimated that the entire complex of the Taj Mahal was completed in 1653 at a cost of 32 million rupees! (52.8 billion rupees in today's world) The Taj is often thought of as the jewel of muslim art in India. The construction of the Taj employed roughly 20,000 artisans. There is the white domed building that everyone recognizes and then two sandstone buildings on each side of the Taj and gardens throughout the complex. More than 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year.
The detailed marble and work with jewels inlayed in the carved stone was truly something amazing to see!
The colors below aren't paint they are sapphires and rubies and lots of other jewels cut and set in the stone. It was so impressive to see!
This is one of the two identical red sandstone buildings on each side of the central building. The one pictured here is a mosque and the other was built just to maintain the symmetry of the of the complex.
One more shot!
While in Agra we stopped at the Agra Fort. It was pretty similar to the Red Fort in Delhi but had some interesting details inside the fort.
The library had some nice built-ins!
On the ceilings they made engravings that matched the rugs that would have been on the floor directly below them. It was very impressive to see!
From this side of the Fort you could view the Taj Mahal but the air quality was pretty bad and it wouldn't show up in the pictures.
Here is a good example of the marble and jewel work. Couldn't take many when at the Taj!
Not to shabby for a palace!
Next stop Jaipur!
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