Jeremy and Shirlene are a husband and wife team who are documenting their travels in their blog, Idelish. Their passion and love for travel and adventure has led Jeremy and Shirlene to more than 192 cities in 27 countries so far…
Of the many ways the Taj Mahal in Agra has been described, the one that resonates the most with us is “a teardrop on the cheek of eternity”. The marble mausoleum came to life for us when our guide told us the sad fairytale behind this architectural wonder. Emperor Shah Jahan ordered the construction of this monument to commemorate his true love, Mumtaz Mahal soon after her death.
Its design is representative of paradise as described in the Quran, hence the structure often being referred to as “Paradise on Earth”. A perfectionist, the emperor ensured that every aspect of the Taj Mahal is in perfect symmetry and only the finest materials from around the world were used.
We were awestruck when we saw the Taj Mahal for the first time. We just couldn’t believe that this structure was hand-built just over 300 years ago by over 20,000 labourers. Being in its presence is an out-of-the-world experience everyone should have at least once in their lifetime. Read more about our recent trip to the Taj Mahal here.
Travel Tip: Visit the Red Fort on the same day as the Taj Mahal. By having the Taj Mahal entrance ticket for the same day, you can save 50 Rs off the entrance ticket for the Red Fort.
How to get there: Agra is 200km from Delhi. To visit the Taj Mahal, many travellers will take flights to Delhi with British Airways, Air India or Virgin Atlantic and connect there to Agra Kheria Airport with Kingfisher Airlines (www.flykingfisher.com) or Air India Regional (hairindia.in).
Read more from our top travel bloggers:
Kim Reuter – Diego Suarez, Madagascar
(Images: jeremy (ng))
