My room at the Leela in Mumbai.
Quality Lass at our greeting in New Delhi
The team at Wipro in Delhi.
The vehicle that drove us to the Taj Mahal, a surprisingly uncomfortable Ford Endeavor. Note the chiles and lemon attached to the grille above the license plate. These were attached by a street urchin at a truck stop for good luck. Our driver paid him 5 rupees.
The east gate of the Taj complex.
The main gate to the Taj: this was within the grounds. In the left foreground is a manager from Wipro who volunteered to come along for the ride with us as escort and caretaker.
The main gate again. Written in arabic around the gate are the 99 names of Mohammed, inlaid in the marble.
The view of the Taj as you come through the main gate.
There it is. There I am. This is by a bench known as Diana's chair: Diana Princess of Wales took a rest here. If you look carefully, you'll notice that the four towers in the corners all lean out slighty. This is to insure that they fall outwards in the event of an earthquake.
On either side it the Taj itself are identical buildings. This one is a mosque: the other one looks exactly the same but serves no function today.
A detail on the outside of the Taj: carved from a single piece of marble.
Me at the front entrance.
When you enter the tomb, you must either remove your shoes or wear cotton coverings over the top of them. I chose the former; Quality Lass chose the latter.
Another detail on the outside of the Taj, displaying a few of the 47 different varieties of semi-precious stones inlaid in the marble. The building is covered with this kind of detail. All of it inlaid.
Wipro guy at a marble screen: again carved from a single block.
Inside the Taj is the Mughal's wife's tomb: actually her remains are in an unadorned crypt below. The tomb is surrounded by a marble screen, again inlaid with semi-precious stones. The entrance here is one piece of marble.
A detail from the screen.
The other side of the tomb area from the main entrance. You guessed it: a single piece of marble.
People hanging out in the shade behind the Taj. Behind them is the river; on the other side of which are the foundations of the second masoleum the mughal planned to build. It was meant to be black marble to match the white marble of his wife's; but his son disapproved of the expenditure and jailed his father. The dad was then buried next to his wife: his tomb the only non-symmetrical element in the entire complex.
A view from outside to give some scale: note people at the bottom.
Quality Lass wandered into the shot.
The gardens back owards the main gate from the Taj.
The mosaque again. The man in the foreground was our tour guide of the site.
Me and the mosque
The Taj from the mosque
Inside the mosque.
A wing of the mosque.
Amit and Quality Lass in the mosque.
Quality Lass with a spot of turquoise.
A sweet shop in Agra. Evidently Agra sweets are famous and both our driver and Amit loaded up.
This is the call centre in Bangalore.
