Discovering the Fascinating History of the Taj Mahal, The Story Of Love ,Taj Mahal a monument of love and a grieving Taj as an embodiment of Shah Jahan's vision of kingship.

-

Shah Jahan created the Taj Mahal for one of his wives, Mumtaz Mahal, who had died during the birth of their fourteenth child.  It is the crown jewel of Muslim art in India and is one of the world’s masterpieces.

There is so much I could say about the architecture across the 17-acre site, but the Taj Mahal is really about love more than anything else.  A heartbroken Mughal emperor wanted a fitting monument for his beloved to find her rest.

It is a powerful site.  Everything about the visit is intense.  And yes, there are heaps of people.  There will be people in your pictures.  Embrace it and celebrate that so many are coming to see such a monumental symbol of love.

First Light

Look, it’s tempting to try to get the classic shot down the fountain right when you walk into the complex.  This is that shot.

a large building with a pool of water and trees with Taj Mahal in the background

The combination of pre-sunset and pollution kind of killed that shot, in my opinion.  Remembering that the Taj Mahal looks similar from every side, I decided to go explore around the sides of the monument while waiting for the sun to rise.  I tried to be creative with my compositions and also made sure to spend plenty of time with the camera at my side so I could enjoy being present in the moment.

As the sun rose

The blue sky tried to fight through the pollution as the sun rose.  I continued making my way around the mausoleum as the morning light’s rusty hues reflected off the buildings and eventually overtook the sky itself.



a group of people walking in front of a large building

The sun continued to rise and I explored some of the side buildings.  The morning haze became an asset instead of an obstacle when I looked at it with that perspective!



Some tourists from Oklahoma recognized my Texas A&M shirt and were nice enough to grab a picture of me for posterity.

Finding the details

It was then time to switch lenses and zoom in on some of the amazing architectural details of the incredible Taj Mahal.  The Sony a7rV with the 70-200mm G Master II lens was the perfect kit for the job.

I started working my way back to the entrance for another attempt at the Classic Shot.  Even though there were still heaps of people, things had calmed down a bit.









The Classic Shot

Patience is a virtue.  Some people were more virtuous than others at the Taj Mahal when it came time to get their perfect picture for Instagram.  I consider myself more of an opportunist, so when I heard a tour group speaking Spanish, I befriended them only to find out they were from Mexico City.  We had polite conversation while I snapped pictures of a few people with their phones…all while I was stealthily using them as cover to get myself into position for The Classic Shot.

I quickly turned around when I had a clear moment, only having a second or two to get the shot.  And I nailed it.

In retrospect, I have the Photoshop chops to get rid of all the people in the shot, but I chose not to.  Part of the “charm” of India is the heaps of people at seemingly every turn.  I’d rather remember my visit to the Taj Mahal not with academically perfect pictures, but instead pictures that represent the reality of India.  And why not celebrate people from all around the world coming together to see a story of love?

My visit was winding down, so I played around a little bit more with some reflections around the dais from where I took The Classic Shot.

If you want a super clean shot, turn your camera away from the Taj Mahal and take a picture of the southern entry, nobody will get into your foreground!

I walked towards the exit, happy that I got to see this incredible place.  I kept my camera on, though, and fired off a few more shots before I left.

And, suddenly, it was over.  I could’ve spent all day there but I’m happy with the time I did spend.  It was a sip of the Taj Mahal, not a deep drink.  I will return someday, until then it will be hard to forget the power of this place.

Taj Mahal History (the way I told my wife):

       The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum (a mausoleum being a free-standing structure that encloses the burial chamber of a deceased person) in the city of Agra, India

 

  • Mumtaz was special because a few years earlier when Shah got into a bit of a fight with his brothers; she stood by him. She was apparently the ‘chosen one of the Palace’. Lucky duck.

 

  • But. Mumtaz’s luck didn’t last long.

 

  • Mumtaz was giving birth to the couples fourteenth child when she departed the world. Probably couldn’t face one more push. But no matter. She had a very caring and doting husband whose hair apparently turned white overnight as he grieved the loss of his fair wife.

 

  • As a token of his undying love for her, Shah Jahan ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal to house her body. Either that or he just couldn’t face looking after all those kids alone and thought this would give them somewhere cool to have a run around and a play.

 

  • The Taj Mahal took two decades to complete and was said to be overlooked by the architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori (the same guy who designed the red fort at Dehli). I just hope it wasn’t a priced job and he had the sense to work on a day rate. And time and a half for weekends.

 

  • He, along with 20,000 workers and 1000 elephants, worked their socks off to build what is now the worlds most romantic building.

 

  • Just as it was finished Shah, being a typical man, started thinking about what he could build next. He had plans to construct his own super grand mausoleum across the river from the Taj Mahal where the love of his life lay.

 

  • Shah didn’t want to be put to rest next to dead Mumtaz. He wanted to have his own seventh wonder. Typical man. If you’ve got a mausoleum, I want a mausoleum. And mine will be bigger and better. And across the river. And by the way, I’m taking the remote control.

 

  • Remember, everyone needs their own space. Especially Emporers. And Mummys.

 

  • But, Shah Jahan never got to play with his new tools because he got ill, had a fall out with his sons and the most prominent and most influential son captured him and put him in the Agra Fort. Saving the family thousands on nursing fees.

 

And there Shah Jahan stayed, until the day he died in 1666. His only view of the Taj was from a small window from the fort prison. Probably driving himself insane as he looked out over the Taj thinking ‘That pillar could do with shifting to the right a little a bit’.

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Necropolis of Memphis arouses intense curiosity. About 25 kilometers from Cairo, Egypt’s capital, the site extends south from the Giza plateau – and features one of the most extraordinary sights on our planet. Keep reading to learn more about the pyramids and their history!

-
Image
The history of the pyramids of Giza is estimated to date from 3000 BC. The three great pyramids, Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos, were erected during Egypt’s Old Kingdom period. are part of a complex of important buildings such as palaces and temples.Tombs of early Egyptian kings were bench-shaped mounds called mastabas . Around 2780 BCE, King Djoser's architect, Imhotep, built the first pyramid by placing six mastabas, each smaller than the one beneath, in a stack to form a pyramid rising in steps. This Step Pyramid stands on the west bank of the Nile River at Sakkara near Memphis.  Like later pyramids, it contains various rooms and passages, including the burial chamber of the king.  The transition from the Step Pyramid to a true, smooth-sided pyramid took placed during the reign of King Snefru, founder of the Fourth Dynasty (2680–2560 BCE). At Medum, a step pyramid was built, then filled in with stone, and covered with a limestone casing. Nearby at Bahshur, cons...
Read more

The Great Wall of China is an ancient wall in China.To protect the north of the empire .

-
Image
  Sections of the wall were built with bricks and stone instead of earth. It took more than 2000 years for building and completion of the Great wall. The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states. It is the longest structure humans have ever built. It is about 21,196 kilometers long, 9.1 metres (30 feet) wide and 15 metres high. It is made over the course of hundreds of years, the wall was built by over 6 different Chinese dynasties, and is over 2,300 years old. The wall was built to help keep out northern invaders like the Mongols. Smaller walls had been built over the years, but the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, decided that he wanted a single giant wall to protect his northern borders. The most well-known sections of the wall were built by Ming Dynasty. Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, was the only one who breached the Great Wall of China in its 2,700-yea...
Read more