Agra, 220 kms from Delhi on the Yamuna River, is
home to India's most famous landmark, the Taj Mahal.
Begun in 1631 the Taj was built by the Emperor Shah
Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died
during the birth of her 14th child in 1629. The
red sandstone vaulted gateways to the gardens of
the mausoleum would in any other setting be admired
as masterpieces in their own right and they provide
the perfect frame to the Taj. Exquisite harmony
and refined symmetry are the keynotes of the mausoleum,
though it is perhaps the close up detail that is
most beautiful. The whole of the central structure
is clad in miraculously white marble detailed with
inlaid stone and fretwork. The octagonal cenotaph
chamber contains the ceremonial marble coffins of
both Mumtaz Mahal and Shahjahan, while the bodies
are entombed in another chamber directly below.
Other than the Taj and the Agra Fort, built by the
Emperor Akbar in the 16th century, Agra is a fairly
unremarkable town, typical of the northern plains
of India.
