From the car park the crowds thicken until we reach the Southern Gateway, in red sandstone and marble inlay rising in front of use. We pay our guide the entry fee, and he goes off to buy the tickets. One of the benefits of having a guide.
The crowds of visitors slow at the central gateway, all pausing to drink in their first glimpses of the famous building. Finally we can see the white marble of the onion shaped dome floating above the heads of those in front of us in the queue to enter the rectangular walled compound..The gardens spread out below, a study in symmetry either side of the axial reflecting pool.
In front of us is the vast tomb, built on the orders of Mughal ruler Shah Jahan to be the final resting place of his beloved Mumtaz stands proudly on a marble flagged plinth (shoes are to be removed and stored with a shoewallah before one ascends). It is only when one walks here that the sheer magnitude of the structure becomes apparent. And closer observation (with or without the bletherings of you guide) reveal the rich decorative details. On the lower walls of the tomb white marble dados are sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines. The marble is polished, providing emphasis to the exquisite detailing of the carvings and the dado frames. The archways are decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are of yellow marble, jasper and jade, polished and levelled to the surface of the walls.
Mumtaz Mahal's tomb lies under the centre of the dome, in a plain crypt beneath the the elaborately decorated inner chamber (it is crowded bedlam to get in here, but be patient).
Shah Jahan is buried beside her,the only assymetric element patently visible in the whole complex.
These are his words about the building.
Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.*