The Taj. Need more be said? Probably not, but, like Victoria Falls, one may legitimately say "Damn."

The Indians are taking a very careful approach to the Taj, realizing its profound cultural and economic power, and since it's not in the middle of a city (unlike, say, the Colosseum or the Athenian Acropolis), they can do some remarkable things to keep it together. Gas-powered vehicles can't come any closer than a mile so the fumes can't eat into the marble. You have to park (in a lot filled with people trying to sell you things) and either walk or take an animal-drawn cart. After being patted down for guns and bombs by guards at the main entrance, you go down a long red-stone entryway which was once used as a barracks and still serves in that capacity. Then you turn right, go through another, grander gateway and there, down a long reflecting pool and a well-kept lawn to...well, you know. The picture above is taken from a bit to the left, so you don't see the pool.

It just so happens that we went on the wrong day. One day a week, the Taj is closed for repairs. One day, the entry fee is 100 rupees (quite a lot for the average Indian, but it's about two bucks), on four days, it's something like ten or twenty. And one day, it's free. We happened to be in town on the day it was free. During the local equivalent of the week between Christmas and New Years. While a major Muslim cleric was in town and attracting lots of visitors. It was packed. We had to take off our shoes before going into the Taj itself (another move to protect the marble) and had a fun time taking Naomi's chair up the steps. It was even more fun taking her through the packed crowd (we're talking "Three Die In Stampede" density here) and into the Taj itself. The building is as gorgeous close up as it is from a distance. Large parts are inlaid with semi-precious stone, and the inlay, like that below, is perfectly flush with the marble surface. Inside, the caskets of Shah Jahan (the Moghul emperor responsible for the building) and his wife Mumtaz Mahal (for whom it was built) are exquisitely carved. That evening, we had dinner at a restaurant with a view of the Taj. Full moon, even. Pretty.

Across the river from the Taj is the Red Fort, a massive fortress/palace complex, parts of which are being used even today by the Indian army. There's a set of gorgeous apartments overlooking the river, many of which have lovely gardens and pools attached to them. There are even double-layered walls which had running water behind them to cool them in the oppressively hot summers. Below is a fountain/tub about seven feet long and perhaps a food deep at its deepest.

There's a bittersweet story attached to the apartment it's in. The Shah Jahan was, late in life, deposed by his son Aurangzeb, perhaps for the excessive expense in building the Taj. He was imprisoned in that apartment for his final years, made from the same marble as the Taj and decorated by the same craftsmen. Right now, there's a rough hole about the size of a walnut in one of the doorframes. It used to be filled by the Kooh-i-Noor, the largest diamond in the world, now residing in the British Museum. The popular belief is that in it, you would have been able to see a reflection of what lay through the broad, open windows and across the river: the Taj Mahal. The picture below was taken looking from that spot.

Some thirty five kilometers away or so is Fatehpur Sikri, capital of the Moghul empire under Akbar the Great for about a dozen years until the site was abandoned. The legend behind Fatehpur Sikri is that a Sufi mystic from a village (on the future palace's site) prophesied that Akbar would soon have a son. By the year's end, Akbar had a son and the mysic found his home village becoming a palace. Fatehpur Sikri is the quintessence of the Moghul's acceptance of their realm's diversity. Although nominally Muslim, the Moghuls went in for religious tolerance in a big way. Fatehpur Sikri has apartments for Akbar's three wives, each from a different religion (one Muslim, one Christian, one Hindu). One section was patterned after Chinese pagodas. Particularly notable is this column in the private audience chamber. The motifs on the bottom section are inspired by the Muslims (ironically, one of the motifs is a wine bottle; go figure), the motifs on the second section are inspired by the Hindus.

Higher up, the chevron patterns were inspired by the peaked roofs of the Christians, while the bulbous protrusions of the capital were based on Buddhist prayer wheels.