taj mahal

Something they ate, probably.

Good one, Meddler.

My visit was in the 70s and we were able to wander around down stairs near the crypt etc. It was the done thing then to pay a "photo opportunity" tout to take you to all the spots around the garden for superb shots of the Taj. Unfortunately mine are all prints. In hindsight and looking at them again this morning - even though they are faded - they were really good shots.

Our pics are from 1982 - guess from the dates most of us posters visited the Taj, we are posting in the appropriate forum.

Most of our photographic memories are on Beta video - my husband lugged this gynormous camera and battery pack about, without complaining, I might add. He had just converted these Beta gems into cd's - picked up a Beta player at a garage sale, and it died just as he finished the last dc - this is not normally our luck, but for once things were on our side.

Our guide knew all the best camera angles - "stand a foot to the right, with the camera low and shoot up" were the kind of instructions we got. What bugged my husband (who is a good photographer), was that he was always right.

I was very surprised to find that the walls of the Taj were all inlaid with semiprecious stones. Very beautiful. We didn't quite make it at dawn - but we were there by about 8 am (we flew in on the first flight from Delhi), and had the place pretty much to ourselves. The only disappointment was the reflecting pools were empty. Also, we were there in the late spring - April I believe, and apparently the Taj is best just after the monsoons, when it apparently sparkles after the washing.

This was a visit to an icon that lived up to advance billing. I loved it, and want to return again.

In the 1970s it was pretty much all-access, and it was about US$ 0.20 admission. I hear it's more like US$20 now.
The detail of the inlay tiles on the inside is just maddening with detail. The "guides" who hang around inside would hush you to be quiet, then let out a loud single syllable which would echo incredibly.
Well, it's been 30+ years since I was there, the word on the road back then was that when you get to Agra don't go to the tourist ghetto (I think it was called Taj Cantonment), but instead have the bicycle-ricksha driver take you to the Taj itself, there are cheap hotels right there.
The Taj is inside a fort (Taj Gunj) and the people doing the inlay souvenirs are supposedly descendants of the artisans brought from Persia to build the place. One day while walking through the market lanes in the gunj I saw a big pile of dried produce for sale that is illegal in most places (hint: it burns nicely). I can't speak for today, but back then the stuff was legal in that state (Uttar Pradesh).

When I first saw the Taj, it was noontime and yeah, looked just like the damned postcards. Then I saw it under moonlight: words can't describe the sight of what appears to be a large pearl glowing in the night (it wasn't just the effect of the dried produce). Definitely worthwhile timing your trip for the full moon, used to be they kept the grounds open all night for it. But be sure they still allow night viewing, and check to see if this has become some marketing ploy with thousands of tourists bussed in for the full moon.

The gunj was also a good place to buy colored gemstones. They may be real topaz, amethyst etc but they will be flawed. If interested bring a loupe and you'll see the flaws when you examine them, and bargain hard.

i'm happy i went to see the taj mahal...like the other recently voted 7 wonders of the world....it's the saddist of all of them & only got to be one because it's located in a country with a billion voters.

..it's beautiful no doubt....but 2 hours is enough to see & read everything within the grounds...

..unlike its peers the taj is not worth a second visit..but it is worth what only amounts to a passing glance when compared to the other true man made wonders of the world.

That's your opinion.

But I wouldn't attempt to episcopate, as you do, for the whole world, containing as I hope it does, the odd person of more imagination than your run-of the -mill lumpen proletariat Yank.

I visited in '06; still cameras were allowed but not video. I spent the entire morning omn the grounds, and would also go back for another visit. I also went to the other side of the river for photos.

I found that the other major sites in and near Agra were well worth the 3 days I spent there. Agra fort, Fatipur Sikri, and the baby Taj were on the agenda.

I would enjoy such wonderful sights more within the context of the British Raj.
Maybe it will be invited back!

[Noel Coward singing Mad dogs and Englishmen/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdEnxNog56E]

I'm going to have to give this one a pass. My neighbor left for Agra yesterday - he gets in for something like 20 rupees, it's $20USD for me.. Thanks, but I'll wait for the movie. WAIT! I HAVE the movie ;)