The Taj Mahal Full Tour in 4K | Agra, India |
Today we are going to visit the Taj Mahal. Which is in the city of Agra, UP. The distance between Agra to Delhi is around 250 km, You can come here by train or AC bus. Taj Mahal’s main gate is about 6 km from Agra Railway station (Agra Cantonment). From the main gate parking, you have to walk for a half kilometre to reach the ticket counter. You can buy online tickets from the ASI website (Archeological Survey of India) Or scan the QR code placed everywhere here. Ticket prices are different for Indian citizens and foreigners; visitors from SAARC countries get tickets at different prices.
This is a QR code, you can scan and book tickets. The ticket counter is on the right side here There are two different kinds of Tickets again. The First Kind, To visit the Taj Mahal will cost you 50 rupees. The second Kind, to enter the mausoleum will cost you 200 rupees.
So overall you have to shell out 250 rupees to visit the Taj Mahal and enter the mausoleum. The Mausoleum entry ticket price is the same for Indians and foreigners, which costs 200 rupees. But, foreigners have to shell out extra money for the Taj Mahal visit ticket, which costs 1100 rupees. This is a ticket for mausoleum entry and a coin for the Taj Mahal visit.
Entry and security check is on the left side from the ticket counter Security will check your tickets here, they call it the western gate. I finished the security check and entered inside If you walk straight from here and turn left you will get to see the main entrance to the Taj Mahal. Let me give brief information about the Taj Mahal, Taj Mahal construction was initiated by Shah Jahan. Construction started in the year 1631 and was completed by the year 1653. It took 22 years, more than 20,000 workers, more the 1000 elephants and 28 types of different coloured stones to construct this structure Stones of different colours were sourced from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, China and Arabian countries. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed using red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble.
This piece of land was originally owned by Maharaja Jai Singh, He had a mansion here. Shah Jahan presented Maharaja Jai Singh with a large palace in the centre of Agra city in exchange for this land. Shah Jahan wanted to build the Taj Mahal next to the Yamuna River. Yamuna River is right behind the Taj Mahal.
These fountains are usually not operational on crowded days. But today is the lucky day I guess. You can see the main marble dome, surrounded by 4 smaller domes with openings at the base and 4 minarets with 3 levels. Each level of minaret has a door, and circular steps inside. Mausoleum entry is from this platform. But, only for those with mausoleum entry tickets. Each of these minarets is 40 meters high, around 135ft. On the left and right side of the Taj Mahal, You can see two grand red sandstone structures that mirror each other.
The architecture of these two structures is similar to that of Jama Masjid in Delhi One more interesting fact about the Taj Mahal is that, In 1942, the British Indian government erected scaffolding to disguise the building in anticipation of air attacks by the enemy forces. During the India - Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffolding was again erected to mislead bomber pilots. This is the entry to the mausoleum. To enter the mausoleum, you must wear a shoe cover, Covers will cost you 10 rupees, you can buy them outside or they sell them here too. If you miss buying tickets to the mausoleum at the main ticket counter outside, you can buy them here on the left side of the Taj Mahal.
There’s a QR code here too. These are shoe covers, you can take them for free here, and drop them in the bin once you come out of the mausoleum. Before going to the mausoleum, let’s see the Yamuna River. I guess it’s not that clean! The government has barricaded both banks of the river to stop people from dumping trash. Since the river flows from Delhi and Mathura, it is obvious that it carries pollutants. This is the structure that is similar to Jama Masjid.
Apart from the Taj Mahal, you can visit Agra Fort too if you have enough time. You get a view of the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort. That is Agra Fort on the left side. This is the Yamuna River with barricades of course. Like I said before, They had put scaffolding during the world war. You can see that left side structure with scaffolding now.
If any weakness in structure is identified, ASI puts scaffolding and works on it. Sometimes scaffolding is put to clean minarets. You can see marble cutting here. If it Rains! This is to drain rainwater. There’s a door here, two doors and a room in the middle.
This is marble too. Cut out of marble One can touch and feel the quality of this marble. Let’s go inside the mausoleum now to see the tomb of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz. Oh! There’s a fountain here too, But not in operation. I have put on shoe covers to enter the mausoleum.
The entrance is right ahead Those with a 50 rupees ticket will not be given entry into the mausoleum. One more thing, Video cameras are not allowed near the tomb area. I am on the main platform of the Taj Mahal mausoleum complex.
Arabic calligraphy on white marble with intricate designs made out of different coloured stones. This is the main door, adorned with Arabic calligraphy. Cameras are not allowed inside. I have come out of the mausoleum. This is a mausoleum exit. The Mausoleum complex houses representative tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz. The real graves are in the lower tomb chamber, restricted to the public.
Inside, I could see designs similar to this, with white marble and different coloured stones. I couldn’t shoot video inside, due to restrictions. However, you can access photos of the tomb on the internet or Google it. This is Arabic calligraphy on the door again, with black and white marble.
Like I said before 28 different coloured stones were used in construction. These are just a few of them. As I said, Each minaret has 3 levels with doors on each floor. But, No entry to minaret. There’s a balcony on top of the minaret. The total Taj Mahal complex and garden covers 17 hectares (42 acres). The best way to visit the Taj Mahal would be from Delhi. You can leave Delhi In the early morning, visit the Taj Mahal and Agra fort and be back in Delhi by evening.
2023-12-16 12:36
