A pre-dawn wake up call so we can queue up for entrance to the Taj Mahal for sunrise…..we thought. As we got closer to the entrance, we realized that several hundred others were thinking the same thing. The fact that this is the beginning of a three day Muslim holiday made the lines even longer. However, we realized that the intent wasn’t to get us there at dawn, but early in the day for two reasons. As the sun rises, it takes a while to get high enough for it to shine on the Taj Mahal, and since most people just don’t bother to get up at 4:30 to get here, fewer people to get in the way of photos. All good.
This is what greeted us as we emerged from the queue. Stunning.
First some history. The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Hahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631. It’s perfect proportions have been described as “a vision, a dream, a poem, a wonder”. The garden tomb required 12 years and 40,000 labors to complete.
The calligraphy covering the outside is from the Quran. The further up in height, the taller the script so it all looks the same size.
To start, we had our requisite tour group photo in front of the Taj. Then we were ‘accosted’ by a local ‘guide’ to ‘help’ us with some photos. He took Gloria and me throughout the gardens to get the ‘perfect’ shot of the Taj. He worked with us for 30 minutes or so, taking some pictures for us, and of us and suggesting to me which pictures to get as the sun continued to rise in the east. The pictures below and many more are due to him.
Now, what am I going to pay him…….? At the end of the photo shoot, with Gloria sitting on my lap and the two of us gazing into each other’s eyes, it was time to negotiate! Not knowing where to begin, I offered him 150 rupee. An insult. He countered with 500 rupee. A surprise. Oh, in rounded numbers, 50 rupee equals $1.00. OK, the 150 rupees was in insult, I just gave him the $10.00 and called it good. We got some great pictures, and he got what he thinks his time was worth. Curious, as he was finishing our ‘photo shoot’, he was starting his next with a couple of Canadian women. Quite an entrepreneur.
The view back to the entrance
One of three buildings that surround the Taj Mahal
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