Agra Day 2 - 5/20/2026
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
We left the hotel this morning to go visit the Taj Mahal at Sunrise. Same procedure of transferring to the main gate by golf cart from the Oberoi, which was quite convenient. We were the first people to enter the gate so it was possible to get a lot of pictures without the crowds in the way, plus the lighting was very nice. We were able to walk around on our own as well instead of in a group so it was a peaceful morning.
There were lots of Monkeys at the Taj Mahal, and they were especially active at sunrise, running around in a pack, shaking the metal fence by the river and playing. There were adults and babies so we stopped to take a video for Baylor.
While we were walking around our little man from yesterday who showed us the best photo spots appeared next to us, we were able to give him a tip and thank him for all of the advice.
Once we finished our sunrise session we headed back to the hotel by golf cartfor some breakfast and a shower. Even when we weren't on the Taj Mahal site we had a great view of it from our room.
After breakfast we started off to see the Agra fort. We had heard a lot about Shah Jahan during our visit to the Taj Mahal, and the fort is where he spent his last 8 years under house arrest . When Shah Jahan suddenly fell ill, a bloody war of succession broke out between his sons, where Aurangazeb was victorious. Aurangazeb would go on to place his father under house arrest in Agra fort. He had all of the comforts of royalty but could not leave the fort, even to visit the Taj Mahal that he had built for his beloved wife.
At the entrace to the fort where we boarded the busses, various street vendors approached us, as they had at other places. Our guide would allow all of us to board the bus, but then he would take an item from each vendor and in a controlled fashion would ask if anyone on the bus wanted to purchase one, and would broker the price. He wanted to make sure that these people who were just trying to make a living had a chance to make a sale but not agressively get into our space while we were exiting. It was a good compromise and allowed them to make some sales. On our way back from the Fort we stopped at a marble place and saw a demonstration, and we purchased a really pretty jeewlery box that will be shipped home. The artisans at this place are generations long inlay srtisans and their families did the work when the Taj Mahal was built, and they continue to be responsible for upkeep and maintenance there.
We returned to our hotel for lunch and some rest. The temperatures in Agra were in the 112-114 range so the program was designed to avoid the heat of the day. At 4PM we met our group in the lobby again and went to see the often described as a "jewel box", although our guide described it as a wedding cake or the Baby Taj. It was built before the Taj Mahal is regarded as a model for the Taj Mahal.
Along with the main building, the structure consists of numerous outbuildings and gardens. The tomb, built between 1622 and 1628, represents a transition between the first phase of Mughal architecture — primarily built from red sandstone with marble decorations, to its second phase, based on white marble and pietra dura inlay, most elegantly realized in the Taj Mahal.
The mausoleum was commissioned by Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, for her father, Mirzā Ghiyās Beg, a Persian amir in exile, who was the grandfather of Mumtāz Mahāl, the wife of the emperor Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan commissioned the Taj Mahal as a tomb for Mumtāz Mahāl.
The site is on the same river but opposite bank from the Taj Mahal. It is in the middle of a poor area of Agra with narrow trash littered streets and lots of markets. The bus pulled up,and did a U-turn in the narrow street so that we could exit the bus directly towards the front gate. There is a lot of symmetry at the site, just like the Taj Mahal, including 4 gates placed one on each side, some being real gates and some being false. Despite the islamic cultural connection and alcohol being prohibited, you see lots of imagery of wine decanters and glasses in the decorations of the tomb.
We headed back to the hotel and had dinner in the restaurant with a very nice couple from the group who were from Palm Springs. We leave for Delhi in the morning to fly back to Mumbai where we will meet the ship for one last night before we depart.