Taj Mahal is one of the iconic masterpiece built in the sixteenth century, that one must visit in India, to personally feel the best in-class architecture of that era. No amount of photos or videos can compensate your personal experience, that is what I realized, after visiting there. Continuing from my previous post, we headed straight to the hotel Royale Sarovar Portico, Agra from Mathura, which took almost 5 hours and visited Taj Mahahl the next morning.
This is the ticket counter, and as you can see, the booking counter opens one hour before Sunrise and the entry gate opens 30 minutes before Sunrise. I am sure, this must have been planed very carefully to favor photographers to capture this iconic mausoleum as the sun rises. While coming back from dinner, we saw many foreigners asking for cabs at 4am just for this, and even though I wished to go, Mom was not comfortable getting up so early and going there. So we took our own time and reached at the ticket counter at around 9 am, and it was quite free for Indian nationals.
The entire Taj corridor is under strict emissions standards to prevent pollution, and you will have to go by a battery car from the parking place. As soon as you get out of your vehicle, people will be behind you asking for guide assistance, so just keep quiet and move on. On entry, strong security check will not allow any food items or any dangerous items, except water. They even took away few dry fruits, that Mom had in her purse.
This is the entrance to the main area.
My limited skill to make this one special.
The view from the entrance, it's difficult to get a place to even stand.
Getting that place on that stage on the center was like waiting for 15 minutes.
Some professional photographers asked to help in exchange of some money, and took above three pics.
Few more pics before entering the main building area, to which you have to walk from left. You will have to buy show covers to enter the central chamber.
The western building, a mosque, is closed and you can only see it from outside.
On the backside, you can see Yamuna river and the Agra Forte (known as Lal-Qila of Agra), where the Emperor Shah Jahan was staying. He must have thought to see the memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal every morning from the Forte.
This is the main entry to the central chamber where the sarcophagi of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan kept. Photography is strictly prohibited inside. Even though the outside was very hot, the inside was no less than an air conditioned place. The calligraphy and decoration at each place is simply stunning.
Getting out of the central chamber.
Quite happy to finally make it to the Taj Mahal.
Look at the detailed level of design, made me wonder, what it would have taken to build this in 16th century without any technology assistance.
Capturing the minaret was only possible from a distance. There are four of them in each corner and a very interesting fact about them : They were built in such a way that, if they collapse, then they will fall away from the central tomb.
Another mosque on the right side to make the design consistent.
Closer view of each side from the top corner - amazing architecture to maintain the symmetry in every piece, that too in 16th century.
Garden view from the main building and some more pics as we returned.
This is the reason, you should either go early morning or late afternoon, to take better photos.
Time to say goodbye and carry a memory for life time. Even though I took so many photos ( the very bests are chosen for this post) , I felt incomplete - Th Taj Mahal is such a huge masterpiece. Do let me know, which one photo you like the most.
And now I present you a video, prepared with my novice editing skills.
If you plan to visit Taj Mahal, then it will be best to visit during the TajMahotsav, check their official twitter(X) account to know when it happens : https://x.com/TajMahal
Shot with SONY α6400 with 18-135 mm Zoom Lens
It takes immense amount of time to write posts like this with all context, so if you like it, please consider upvoting it. If you are interested in the religious and spiritual journey of India, then some more travel posts from my spiritual journey :
Some of my other travel posts if you are interested to explore India, updating this list as I write more :
And if you would love to come to my place, which is India's best kept secret, then some glimpse :
This post will be part of my Google review of this place, a little hive marketing. I have also joined a Sony A6400 Shooters Facebook group (with 35k members) where I share my posts so that other photographers may also discover our blockchain and share their work here.
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