Letter 61 The Taj Mahal.

Index of Letters       Letter 61 Background        Back to Letter 60

Forward to Letter/Story 62

                                                                                                Joseph Kour.

                                                                                                The Game Reserve,

                                                                                                Rayalseema,

                                                                                                Andhra Pradesh,

                                                                                                India.

                                                                                                     (New Zealand)

Shanti  Wilson,

New Lynn,

Auckland,

New Zealand. 

Dear Shanti & Mike,

            Hi from India (New Zealand) Ha Ha.

            It is Lizamoa here. It seems I will be writing the very last letter for the letters books before we begin living in New Zealand.

            We had a very good journey coming to New Zealand. Yes I know Joseph and I have travelled that trip before but this time we had two extra with us, Jagesh and my mother-in-law, Greeshma.

            But Amita, I will tell you more of our trip in another letter. Tonight I have not got very much time on the computer and I want to write the story which I promised to do. After telling everyone to leave the story of our visit to the Taj Mahal for me, I have then got so busy and with the last week before our leaving for New Zealand, I did not do anything. Here I am doing now.          

            So as Shanti has told, Sarvesh arranged a small tour taking in the sights of the three cities of Delhi,, Jaipur and Agra. The most important sight to see in Agra is the Taj Mahal. The public usually enter by The Great gate (Darwaza-i rauza)—gateway to the Taj Mahal. Once inside you find yourself within the most lovely gardens. Yes we enjoyed seeing these and how well they were carefully maintained.

            Then you come upon that lovely view of the Taj Mahal itself. I am sure you remember that beautiful picture view with that long ornamental reflecting pool., it is most famous. We were taking the photos and it looked like everyone there was also taking many photos too. With the sunlight shining off the dome of white marble it was a very beautiful sight but very hard to take a good photograph too.

            When we were close to the building we could see all the stone work of the building which looked like carving from a distant but was actually inlaid stone work. Mike said it would have taken a long time to do all this work.

            We were able to go inside and if we thought the outside was beautiful it was nothing when we compared with the inside. Again there was very beautiful craftsman work and inlaid precious stones.

            Yes if anyone goes to India they must not be missing this beautiful building. 

            But the lovely work of the building is not the only part of the Taj Mahal. There is also the story behind it too. The story goes that it was constructed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his queen Mumtaz Mahal whom he loved very much. When she died while giving birth, the emperor was grief-stricken. It took one year to plan the building and find the craftsmen to do the job. So one year after her death with his heart still broken the emperor oversaw the beginning of construction of this wonderful project to remember her. It took a large team of workers 22 years to complete (1630-1652 AD).

            Often there is the story told that once construction was finished the emperor had all the architects and craftsmen killed by horrific deaths. This was so another building could not be made like this one. But there has been no evidence found that this actually happened. I can not believe that a man who had so much love for his wife could ever do such a terrible thing.    

         Sarvesh had also organized another visit to the Taj Mahal. This time we went at night to view it under the light of the full moon. It seems that they open up just a few nights each side of the full moon. This was beautiful to see this wonderful building bathed in the softer light of the moon as the white dome appears to glow. If you should ever get to visit the Taj Mahal you should view it under the Full Moon. A most beautiful sight to witness how the white marble dome seems to glow in the moonlight as if it was its own light.         

           They were telling us the building is being affected by the pollution of modern man. It is eating into the marble and leaving a covering of dirt which requires cleaning often. There is a work force of over 550 doing maintenance, cleaning and gardening tasks as well a guiding the large numbers of tourists every day. I was not happy to learn how much damage this building is receiving. It is lucky it was placed at a smaller town and not within a larger city or the damage would be even worse.  

            I have never seen the Taj Mahal before and so I am so glad that I had a chance to see the wonderful sight, the most wonderful in all of India, before it was time for me to leave India to live in another country far away. 

            Now I want to finish this letter with a small poem. I think it is the first time a poem has ever been included in the Letters Book. This poem was written by the Emperor himself when the building was finished and finely he gazed upon its beauty.  

                        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. 

            Well that is all I have to tell you in this story.

                        Bye with lots of love.

                                    From

                                                Lizamoa.

Index of Letters       Letter 61 Background        Back to Letter 60

Forward to Letter/Story 62