Adventures with Julia

November 5, 2011

Just realized I sent the post on Varanasi with out adding photos.  Here are four.

Bathing in the Ganges

Priest performing ceremony at Ganges River

The Ganges Ceremony from the boats

Early morning on the Ganges

For those of you who may someday go to Agra, try not to go there by bus from Delhi.  The distance is not far–maybe 120 miles–but the road is very rough, full of potholes and obstacles to be avoided–animals, people, vehicles.  No one bothers with lanes or right of way.  Rather a free for all, it is amazing that we have not seen any accidents, although most of the vehicles have at least a few dents.  Mark and I ended up in the back of the bus and we bounced all the way to Agra.  By the time we arrived, I could barely turn my head from all the jamming on my neck.  Fortunately, a few IBU and a good night’s sleep took care of the problem.  There is a train between the two cities that takes only 2 hours, but it is an early morning trip and leaves you in Agra too early to go to a hotel or visit tourist sites.

After lunch at the Agra Oberoi on November 2, 2011, we drove to Agra Fort on the banks of the Yamuna River to see how the Mughal emperors lived during the time of Akbar and his heirs.  The fort, built in the mid 1500’s, is a massive red sandstone structure that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It happens to overlook the Taj Mahal on the other side of the river.  Whe Shah Jahan, Akbar’s grandson, was emperor, he tore down many of Akbar’s buildings and built his imperial quarters in a style that combined Islamic and Hindu designs and included a lot of white marble.  When his favorite wife, who traveled everywhere with him, died giving birth to his 13th child after 19 years of marriage, he was so remorseful that he could do nothing for many months.  Finally, he was persuaded to build a tomb and mosaleum for her and spent 17 years in the process.  During that time his middle son, Aurangzeb, began to assert himself into the army’s good graces, without Shah Jahan paying attention.  Eventually,  He managed to have his 4 brothers, including the eldest who was the chosen heir, killed and put his father under arrest in the octagonal tower of the fort.    Shah Jahan spent the last 9 years of his life in full view of the his wife’s tomb.   How sad is that?

The incomparable Taj Mahal

Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb lives up to the billing it gets for being one of, if not the, most beautiful buildings in the world.  It is perfectly proportioned and made completely of white marble with inlayed semi-precious stones and beautiful friezes that cast lovely light patterns on the floor.  We arrived there at 8am the morning of the 3rd and managed to get in during a lull between the dawn crowd and the 9am crowd.   I had wanted to see the place at dawn, but there has been so much smoke in the air that sunrise was a bust, and was glad we did not get up so early.   Our hotel is so close to the Taj that we were driven there in golf carts.  Very nice touch.

We were not allowed to take photos inside the mausoleum, where both Mumtaz and Shah Jahan are buried.  I tried to use the video so there would be no flash or clicks, but it all turned out too dark.  We did get many photos of the exterior from nearly every angle.  It is so lovely to look at that many people, including us, simply stared at it for long periods of time.  Perhaps because it was made with much love, it transcends its architecture and evokes a sense of deep pleasure and joy.  Anyway, we had a hard time getting enough of it, but finally we left the site and rode the golf carts back to the hotel for breakfast.

On the road again, we headed for Fatehpur Sikri (Victory City), 35 kilometers SW of Agra.  Even that short distance took an hour to drive.  It is called the Ghost City now, because it was lived in by Akbar and his many wives and children for only 14 years.  He had the palace built to honor his promise to move to the site if he had a son.  He soon had three sons and made good on his promise.  He abandoned the place when he was needed to go to war against some enemies.  His family went back to the Fort in Agra.  More like a residence than many palaces and forts we have seen, it is smaller and easier to relate to.  It took three years to build the living quarters and was never fully completed before it was abandoned.  Imagine the expense for so short a useful life.

From there we headed for a restaurant called The Bagh, about 45 minutes further on.   We ate in a large and pleasant garden where many of the ingredients were grown.  We are enjoying the Indian food we get at almost every meal, although it tastes a bit monotenous to me.    After lunch, the drive to Jaipur took 3 1/2 hours.  Daisy kept us engaged by telling us about the Hindu belief system along the way.  It is, according to her, not a religion, but a way of life.  Anyone can become a Hindu by just deciding to be one.  There is no founder or a single holy book.  Although originally there was only one god,  there are now a plethora of dieties, starting with Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the protector and Shiva, the destroyer and re-creator.  Vishnu has had nine reincarnations to protect the people.  THe 8th is Chrishna and the ninth is Buddha.  A 10th could come at any time.  One of the main tenants of Hinduism is reincarnation.  People will be reincarnated, and may even go backwards in their development, until they reach enlightenment.  Once enlightened there is no need to return.  Hindu’s accept the validity of many paths and are willing to recognize the divinity of the prophets of other religions.

It was dark well before we arrived at our hotel 20 minutes out of Jaipur, the Devi Ratn.