India Blog!

So, here's a (slightly lobsided) version of the picture you've seen in every Taj coffee table book, every other poster of India, and every Web page on the subject! It was so crowded there that we had some trouble getting the shots we wanted, but I have to plead heat-stroke or something on this one because I completely missed the central line, which shows how perfectly symmetrical this monument is. Interestingly, it was not always so. When Shahjahan built this mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, he only had one of the towers (front-left) erected to call people to prayer all around the memorial. At that time, only the Muhgal royal court was allowed entry through its gates, until it was eventually opened to the public hundreds of years later. Over the years, the additional three towers were built to complete the symmetry of the structure.