Today we
experienced the Majestic Taj Mahal. Although the weather was foggy and cold, we
made the most of the experience and took lots of pictures and some of us even
wore our saris. The fog gave the Taj Mahal a dreamlike quality that was truly
unique.
The Taj
Mahal is the burial site of the Mumtaz Mahal, a queen of the Mogul empire and
took 22 years to complete. The Taj Mahal is a stunning white because white is
the color of mourning in Indian culture. The perfection and detail in the
construction of the structure is amazing. Each tiny piece of inset stone is
perfectly flush and individually shaped.
Throughout
our trip we have learned that India is a place of religious diversity, where
many religions such as Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity coexist. Monuments
such as the Taj Mahal and the Agra fort are examples of this coexistence. The
Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim king, and even though this is a predominantly
Hindu society, all Indians are proud of this world wonder.
The Agra
fort is the palace of the King Shah Jahan, and was built together with the Taj
Mahal. Even though the Agra fort was built together with the Taj Mahal, many of
us had not heard of the Agra fort before coming to India. We believe that the
Agra fort is underrated and enjoyed our time exploring the different sections
of palaces.
We learned
that the king wanted the different religions in his empire to live in harmony,
and in order to establish this he had three wives. One was Hindu, one Christian
and one Muslim. This example shows that India has a long history of different religions
living in peace.
