The Taj Mahal and Agra

Timeless Love

Famous for the Taj Mahal, Agra gives the impression of being timeless with its camel trains, laden carts, rickshaws, cows, water buffalo and monkeys joining the traffic on the road. Somehow it retains a village atmosphere, despite its size.

"Listen to Time,
Old eater at his fruit,
Spitting seeds, the brute
Who has no brain or rhyme.
How artfully he moves
Catpawing through a clock
And never stops to talk
But purringly he proves
With so much sound - no more
Than if you strain an ear
At one a.m. you hear -
The shutting of his jaw."

~ Lawrence Bantleman, 1942-1995 ~

The Taj Mahal, Agra was built by the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child. It was completed in 1648. Created out of white marble which reflects the colour of the sky, the patterned inlays are made using semi-precious stones ... and the beautiful calligraphic script from the Q'ran is created with inlays of black onyx.

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love."
~ Sophocles, 496-406 BC ~

Across the river, glimpsed from a distance, there was another type of existence - one where the washing is done in river water and washing is laid out or hung up to dry on the riverbanks.(Click to see a larger size)