JAN 13, 16 .. THE TAJ MAHAL ..

Today's Rhetorical Question:

How could Patti .. Who had not seen The Taj Mahal for twenty years .. NOT go see The Taj on this trip to Agra Cantt?

Patti's one and only visit to The Taj was in February of 1996.

Answer: It is a no-brainer .. We couldn't stay away.

Even I who visited The Taj in May of 2015 wanted to re-visit Mumtaz.

For all you will ever want to know about The Taj and then some please visit Google and Wikipedia.

So here we all go for a photographic visit to The Taj Mahal. Persian for 'Crown of Palaces' .. The Taj is the burial site of Mumtaz Mahal the favorite wife of Shah Jahan who died while birthing their 14th child.

I have published several lengthy posts of The Taj. Each and every photo in this post is new and original. All were snapped on Wednesday the 6th of January 2016. So you may think you have seen some of the below photos but I assure you that you have not.

I personally love the bicycle-ricksha ride out to The Taj. 

All aboard .. Here we go!

For the grand sum of 100 Indian Rupees (US $ 1.53 and this includes a 40% gratuity) Patti and I enjoyed a most pleasant ride out to The Taj.

 It was mid-morning and the traffic was very light.

 The signs prove we are on-the-way.

 A sweet calf.

Thank goodness for a low traffic ricksha ride. In heavy traffic the traffic circles are quite an adventure!

You-name-it and a bicycle man will try to carry it. It looked like very heavy metal.

 A nice clear photo of some Hindi writing.

As Patti wrote on babakaps.net .. 

We ended up at the East gate entrance to The Taj, letting the ricksha driver go, only to be told we had to go one kilometer away to get tickets to enter The Taj. Sigh. Off, more than a little distressed, Cap went. I waited by the gate and watched Cap’s magic happen right before my eyes. Cap had not walked ten feet when an electric multi-person shuttle cart waved him to come over and to sit down and ride! I was so pleased at this sudden good-turn-of-events! He returned with tickets in hand again riding courtesy of the shuttle.

At security, inside the gate, they waved me through with only my cane in hand. Cap had to let them look through his backpack. They said he could not bring in the little packets of snacks we had brought. NO gum, candy, other food, cigarettes, and a list of other items could be taken into The Taj grounds nor could he bring in the two SMALL flashlights he was carrying.  Back he went to the place where you leave such items to be retrieved on your way out of the complex, snacks and flashlight checked in for our return, Cap then rejoined me inside the gate. After our visit all of our items were returned intact and safe.

Below is THE entry archway structure into The Taj.

To the left of the above structure is a long low building shown below.

Going through the above entry archway and walking around to your left below you see The Taj view of the above long low building.

This long low building houses an amazing exhibition of India historical data. In my opinion this exhibition is an absolute do not miss seeing it should you ever visit The Taj.

Below are just a scant few photos of the exhibition.

 A last look back at the exhibition corridor.

If you look 90-degrees to your left from the above photo you see the below magnificent grounds of The Taj behind Patti.

The entire site is just magnificent.

In the above and below photos notice the gathering of wildlife along the right side of the sidewalk.

Do any of the rest of you love Chipmunks!

It took awhile to snap these group photos. At first when I just began to walk toward them they scattered like crazy. So I just remained where I was and they returned. Again I would walk toward them and again away they all ran. Finally I was in their midst and snapped away.

And now?

Some photos of The Taj!

You will notice the right minaret of The Taj is being refurbished. You can see the scaffolding around it.

If you look very closely at these photos you will see that the left rear minaret is also being refurbished.

The below side shot of The Taj shows the scaffolding around the left rear minaret I mention above.

I am happy to have so many photos of The Taj with no refurbishing in progress.

 The amazing Taj .. Patti's expression says-it-all!

The two of us went inside of The Taj. Because of the many narrow steps to go up and down as well as the crowding of other visitors neither of us knew if it would be too much for Patti. She did it like a real trooper!

Looking at the entryway structure with The Taj at my back.

How could it be more grand and majestic?

The Taj is on the Yamuna River.

It was a wonderful visit. We took our time and really relaxed walking slowly with Patti being able to use a Taj furnished wheel chair. 

With Reverent and Humble Joy at being able to again visit The Taj Mahal ..

Patti and Cap ..