Wah Taj!
Contributor July 26th, 2007
A trip to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world..
The Taj Mahal was everywhere— from mobile phones to balloons to people’s faces. Shah Jehan’s baby was crying for votes and every Indian worth his salt obliged, either with a mouse-click or an SMS.
The campaign worked and Shah Jehan would have been mighty pleased if he were alive today! The 17th century monument— built by the Mughal emperor in memory of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal— is sitting pretty on the list of the new seven wonders of the world after a global poll. And ever since the triumph, the erstwhile vote-for-Taj crusaders are chanting Wah Taj!
By the way, did you vote? Many had assumed that the Taj would make it without those messages and mails. A few others also frowned at the publicity ‘gimmicks’ and abstained from the exercise conducted by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, a Swiss non-profit group. But if you have been to the marble masterpiece and seen it at least once, you would have definitely voted for it.
It is a sin if you go to Delhi and come back without a drive to Agra. Not every structure in the world has the architectural precision of the Taj. And not every structure was built over two decades with around 20,000 artisans from different parts of the world.
Shah Jehan did all this for Mumtaz who died after childbirth. The Taj houses her tomb. Years later, Shah Jehan’s tomb too was constructed beside it. It is said that the new grave is the only asymmetrical feature of the whole structure.
If you ever plan to visit this wonder, brush up your history lessons beforehand for a better appreciation of the mausoleum. If that is too much hard work, the plaques and literature around Taj Mahal will give you some quick Mughal bytes on who, what, when etc.
Unfortunately, it is foreigners who seem to stop and take these history capsules, while the Indian traveller doesn’t like any “pitstop” before the destination itself. He is interested in only ‘seeing’ the Taj and not ‘knowing’ it.
If you want to make a royal entry, hop on to any of those horsecarts that will take you to the gateway. However, a walk is recommended as the the tongawallah always has the next customer in mind and rushes you in record time.
So walk! Put your best foot forward, and be careful not to step on horse dung that “carpets” the road.
The main gateway is where all the ‘wows’ start. You have seen the Taj a hundred times in books and on TV, still the first glimpse of the real thing is so amazing that your jaw drops big time. The entry point also gives the best photo opportunity, but ‘you and Taj alone’ is an impossible frame. Unlike celebrities who get their pictures taken on the bench with the lovely and lonely Taj, the common man will find a lot of other ‘heads’ coming in between the camera and the man-made marvel. There will be a crowd at any point of time. After all, you are at a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Next comes the Charbagh (the typical Mughal garden divided into four parts). It is believed that the garden boasted daffodils and roses and many fruit trees, but the British who later took over the maintenance of the Taj Mahal converted the landscaping into a typical London lawn style. (No daffodils might be a dampener. But you can make up for it by striking a Bollywood pose in those yellow mustard fields on the Delhi-Agra route.)
The garden leads you to the main structure where you remove your footwear and walk into a dream.
Every inch of Taj Mahal— the dome, the minarets, doorways, arches, the plinth and guldastas— is decorated.
Calligraphy, geometric patterns and motifs make the monument the finest example of Mughal architecture. But that doesn’t deter the average Indian lover from making his/her own ‘mark’ on the marble structure. There are a lot of romantic notes and scratches that dent the beauty of the Taj. Shah Jehan would appreciate it if present-day couples stopped abusing his labour of love to announce their own!
Even after you finish a round of the structure and head for the exit, the coolness of the precious marble lingers on your feet. The Taj definitely deserves a Wah!
A little reminder here. The Taj is not alone on the dream list. Six other wonders— all torchbearers of heritage— are lined up here:
The Great Wall of China was a popular winner. It is the world’s longest man-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km. It is also the largest man-made structure in terms of surface area and mass. There is a claim that the wall is the only work of man visible to the human eye from the moon.
The ancient city of Petra, or the Rose City, in Jordan is an archeological site famous for its stone structures carved into the rock. The site was revealed to the world by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.
The 125-foot statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The statue is 39.6 meters tall, weighs 700 tons and is located at the peak of the 700-m Corcovado mountain in Tijuca Forest National Park.
Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. The remains of the city are 2,430m up a mountain slope. Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, it got international attention thanks to archaeologist Hiram Bingham, who wrote a best-seller about it.
Mayan Pyramid at Chichen Itza in Mexico. Chichen Itza is a pre-Columbian archeological site built by the Maya civilisation located in present-day Mexico. The site contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation.
Italy’s Roman Colosseum is the only European building to make the list. Stonehenge, the Acropolis and The Kremlin all lost out. The Colosseum is a giant amphitheatre in the centre of Rome. Capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.
Now, wasn’t that a wonderful list?