As we continued on our India trip with Gate 1 Travel, we headed to Agra for the Taj Mahal (obviously!), the Agra Fort, the Baby Taj… and lucky for us, it happened to be the holiday of Holi! After Agra we traveled on to Khajuraho to check out some amazing Hindu temples, some displaying erotic visions of the Karma Sutra.
We left the pink city of Jaipur on our private bus and headed towards Agra. We had two stops on our journey, the first was a locally run school. This school was started by a local man and relies on donations. They are expanding, so the whole building in the first pic is a new addition 🙂
Stop 2 was one of the largest step wells in India: Chand Baori. Step wells were built to save/harvest water in dry areas, with steps down to whatever height the water was currently sitting. Chand Baori was built sometime in the 9th Century. While there, you should also check out the many Hindu carvings on display around the well. For more info on Chand Baori, you can check out this link: www.chandbaori.org
We finally made it to Agra but with no time left that day to sightsee… The next morning, we were off to The Taj Mahal! It really was more beautiful in person than in pictures. You walk through a grand gate and with every step up to and through the door, more of the Taj Mahal comes into view.
The the whole tomb shimmers just a bit in the sun. As you come closer to it, you see the artwork of cut gemstones and flower moldings decorating the walls.
We entered the Taj Mahal where 2 coffins lie in the center surrounded by a marble lattice gate also decorated with gemstones. The actual tombs/bodies lie below the floor, and the ones you see are just for visual effect. No photography was allowed inside the Taj.
While most tombs are constructed in the center of the courtyard, the Taj Mahal is unique. It sits at the far end, close to the river.
Our next destination was to a family’s house to celebrate Holi. Holi is the second most celebrated holiday in India and is known as the festival of colors. All morning, people “play Holi”, meaning they decorate each other’s faces and bodies with colors. That day and days prior, stands along the streets were selling colored powders for this activity. To learn more about Holi, check out this site::www.cnn.com/travel/article/holi-festival-india/index.html I enjoyed reading the Mythological Roots section of the article.
As we drove along the streets, over 95% of the people we saw were covered in a rainbow of colors. We saw young boys smearing each other’s faces and hair with handfuls of yellow, blue, green, and red.
We arrived to the family’s house, and were greeted at the door by having a small amount of color smeared on our foreheads, then checks, noses, etc whole flower pedals fell from above us. Inside their home, we continued to smear color on each other, made introductions, then were served drinks and food. They had a buffet of Indian snacks set out on the table for us to try.
After some time visiting, they moved the chairs and it was time to dance! It was a blast! I was very sad to leave. As we walked out, the neighbors really wanted us to celebrate with them too.. smearing colors and drenching each other with water. But our hosts wouldn’t allow it. It would have been fun, but we would have been walking around Agra, soaked for the next few hours.
Decorated with our Holi colors, we headed off to visit the Agra Fort. The Agra Fort is a dark red color, made of red sandstone. The fort is filled with courtyards and mosques. It was once the main residence of the Mughal dynasty. Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal, was held captive within its walls by his son at the end of his life. The cell he was imprisoned in provided him a view of the Taj Mahal across the river.
Final stop of the afternoon was the Itimad Ud Daulah Tomb, referred to as the “Baby Taj”. This tomb has not been as thoroughly restored, but like the later constructed and similar style Taj Mahal, also had artwork of cut gems.
We returned to the hotel for showers and clean clothes. Then in the early evening we visited a marble in-lay company. They showed the traditional ways of cutting, sculpting, and placing gems into marble. We saw marble tables, vases, and artwork for sale. They aren’t cheap, but were beautiful. One dining room table was selling for $11,000 USD.
The next morning, we headed to the busy train station to take a 2 1/2 hour train ride to Jhansi, where we would get our next bus. You need to be ready for your train because when it arrives, you only have 5 minutes for deboarding and boarding of new passengers before it takes off again. I think the most memorable moment from the train was the bathroom. Trying to use a squatty-potty on a moving train is a bit of a challenge.
In Jhansi, we found our next private bus and headed to Khajuraho. Khajuraho (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is famous for amazingly preserved Hindu and Jain Temples mostly built in the 10th and 11th century. We visited a site with maybe a dozen or more temples within close proximity of each other.
Each temple is dedicated to one of the gods (Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, and others). Our guide took us inside one dedicated to Vishnu and explained that when the Hindu pray, they walk around the altar in a clockwise direction asking for what they need.
On the outside of this temple, he pointed out the intricate carvings. One section shows the scenes of a battle but starts with the soldiers, who going into battle do not know if they will survive.. so they enjoy human pleasures before. These are the depictions from the Karma Sutra that Khajuraho is famous for. Then the soldiers march into battle with elephants and in the end they are victorious.
That’s it for Agra and Khajuraho. Next up: Varanasi
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