Taj Mahal Sunrise: Agra Experience
Taj Mahal
Entering the Taj Mahal
Where do I even start with the Taj Mahal? When you Google “most famous structures in the world”, the Taj Mahal usually comes up first. It’s one of the seven wonders of the world, and several million tourists flock to see it every year. Rather than get lost in the historical weeds, I will give you our personal experience. We booked a sunrise tour, meaning we left New Delhi at the brutal hour of 2:30 to get to the Taj just as the sun broke over the horizon.
Our driver was very polite and stopped several times to take a break, even buying us some snacks. In Agra, we picked up our guide and went straight to the Taj. Since we arrived with a guide, we entered through the East gate, which is generally the least crowded because only foreigners come from this direction. Inside, there is a large courtyard with the amazingly intricate main gate. This gate is the only way into the grounds of the Taj Mahal, and is built of the familiar red sandstone with onyx engravings, a hallmark of Mughal architecture.
I should note that tripods are not allowed on the grounds. If you do not have a guide, photographers can be hired from this entrance area for 100 Rupees per photo. This sounds like a good deal, but we take hundreds of photos, so we would spend easily a few hundred dollars on photos. Our guide used our camera and phone to take amazing photos, and overall, it cost a lot less. After passing up the photographers, we made our way through the gate.
Gardens of the Taj Mahal
Something I love about Indian tomb architecture is the grand reveal of a beautiful building as you walk through the gate. There couldn’t be a more perfect way to introduce us to this majestic structure. I always assumed it was a mosque, since most Western depictions are much more interested in showing you the beauty than filling you in on history. The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan, an emperor of the Mughal Empire. It is a tomb meant to be the final resting place of his wife, who died during its construction.
It is made of solid blocks of Indian marble and inlaid with red carnelian, jasper, black onyx, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and mother-of-pearl. The marble used is actually semi-translucent, so it absorbs the sunlight and moonlight, which is why the sunrise tours are so popular, as it takes on a brilliant pink glow.
As you’ve probably noticed, our sunrise tour was lacking something critical: the sun. We visited India during the monsoon season, so every day was fully cloudy. We knew we would probably not see the sunrise, so we mostly booked the tour for the convenience of being back in Delhi by mid-afternoon for our Old Delhi food tour. For the best chance of clear skies, we recommend visiting during the dry season between October and March. Regardless, the building is simply stunning and will impress you rain or shine.
Symbolism of the Taj Mahal
As we walked around the footpaths, our guide explained all of the history of the construction and the symbolism of the layout. He said that the 22 fountains symbolize the 22 years of construction, or the elements on the roof of the main gate symbolize the completion date. As far as I can tell, all of these details are not intentional, and modern tourists have come up with all sorts of folklore.
What I can say for certain is that this is a symbol of pure love. Shah Jahan was said to adore his wife and was greatly saddened by her death. The pure beauty of the bright white marble symbolizes her purity and dignity, and you can really feel it. It reminds me of the Temple of Leah in Cebu, Philippines, cranked up to 11.
Interior of the Taj Mahal
Finally, it came time to go inside. You’re not allowed to take photos or videos, as it is a place of reverence. The entrance is incredibly grand, with a large half dome surrounded by the intricate carvings of flowers. The red carnelian really stands out against the white marble, and it also glows beautifully in the light. At this point, our guide started really playing up how amazing and special the marble and stones are, which made me a bit suspicious, but more on that later.
The interior is smaller than you would think from the size. There are eight rooms and a central chamber, which are all connected together. Compared to the majesty of the outside, the interior is a bit understated, with the exception of the main chamber. The center room is absolutely dripping in detail, with carvings and inlay on every surface, surrounding every doorway, and stretching all the way up the vaulted ceilings.
In the center is the “crown” surrounding the tomb of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. This is a stunningly intricate lattice structure had the most detailed and varied designs in the entire building. We can’t show you pictures of the inside, but it closely resembles the elements on the Baby Taj, which we would visit later.
Reflections on the Taj Mahal
As we exited the chamber, we were greeted with a beautiful river view. There are so many things to see and details to explore here. On both sides of the Taj are identical buildings. One is a mosque, the other is a guest house. It was very important for the grounds to be symmetrical. I was struck by just how beautiful these side buildings were on their own. In any other circumstance, they would be worthy of a visit, but next to the Taj Mahal, they pale in comparison. According to our guide, there was a plan for a mirrored Taj Mahal built of black onyx across the river, but this seems to be a myth started by a French traveler in the 17th century.
If you were here on your own, you could spend hours, or even a full day, walking the grounds and taking in every detail. Since our tour only spent a few hours at the Taj, we had to press on. When we visited the Great Wall together, I remember feeling that it was distinctly special from other places we had been. It really felt deserving of the title “wonder of the world”, and the Taj Mahal felt much the same. We saw many incredible structures from different moments in history while in New Delhi and Old Delhi, but this truly stood above the rest.
Hilton Doubletree
After the Taj, it was time to get breakfast. Since we arrived for a sunrise tour, there weren’t a lot of options open. Our guide suggested the Hilton Doubletree, since they have a discount through their tour company. Usually, we would never eat at a hotel, and instead we’d find a local place to eat. Since this wasn’t a self-guided tour, we decided it was a good option, especially because of food safety. The buffet was quite good, with a wide variety of Indian and Western options.
The Doubletree is a very nice hotel, so the quality of the food was surprisingly good. I chose to eat mostly Indian food, including aloo, dhal, and chutney. Yemisi went for a Western breakfast, since we never get that in Korea. It was pretty simple, but effective, and gave us the fuel we needed for the day.
Baby Taj
After eating, we had one more stop. Not many people know about it, but just across the river and down a ways from the Taj Mahal is a tomb called the Baby Taj. This is just a nickname, but in reality, this tomb was built before the Taj Mahal. The real name is Itmad-ud-Daula, and it was built by Nur Jahan, the mother of Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal. This architectural wonder is often called a jewelry box because of its intricate detail, and it is the resting place of Nur Jahan’s parents. Like the tombs on our New Delhi tour and solo Delhi trips, it has four-way symmetry with beautiful gardens in all corners. Towards the back, there is also a pavilion overlooking the river with a view of the Red Fort.
Hot take: Yemisi and I both agree that this building is more beautiful than the Taj. Yes, it’s much smaller and not as grand, but in terms of detail, it is probably the most beautiful and intricate building we’ve ever seen. It is constructed of the same glowing marble, but with less red carnelian inlay and a greater emphasis on onyx, agate, and lapis lazuli. Every single inch of this building is covered in intricate inlay or stunning latticework. To be clear, these precious stones are inlaid deep into the marble, not tiled on top. They are painstakingly crafted to fit perfectly, and the wall is smooth to the touch. The lattices are made from one solid block of marble. Standing up close, it is completely overwhelming how intricate and beautiful each detail is.
The most shocking part is how few people were there. The Taj Mahal is consistently busy year-round, but despite it being the middle of the day, there were fewer than 20 people on the entire grounds. Our guide said it’s just not that popular, and most people either choose to skip it or don’t even know it exists. That is wild to us, since it’s one of our favorite buildings we’ve ever seen, and we’ve been to hundreds of temples, tombs, cathedrals, and castles at this point. If you visit Agra, don’t miss out on this truly mind-blowing architectural experience.
Scams
If you read our Delhi day tour blog, you’ll know we encountered some pretty sketchy behavior during our tour. Unfortunately, today was much the same. First, they did not take us everywhere that was listed on Get Your Guide. We didn’t get to go to the Red Fort, which was on the page for our tour. Even worse, they took us to several shops we did not ask to go to, with very questionable business practices. Agra is known for its craftsmanship, specifically marble carving like that of the Taj Mahal, as well as gemstones and carpet making. There are absolutely places to buy high-quality souvenirs, but these shops are not those places. As soon as our guide started going on and on about how amazing the marble of the Taj is, and showing us his fancy gemstone ring, I knew he was going to take us to one of these shops.
The scams work by guides taking you to seemingly legit shops to look at handicrafts. These shops often have demos of their process to legitimize their work, and large showrooms where they show fancy products to wow you. The tour guides get a cut of sales from these shops, and they often sell low-quality goods at massive markups. Do your research on prices and quality before your tour. Remember, you paid for the tour, and you get to choose where you go. If you aren’t taken somewhere listed, tell your guide you want to go there. If they take you somewhere you didn’t ask to go, don’t get out and tell them you have no interest.
Final Thoughts
Seeing the Taj Mahal was everything we could have imagined. Finding the Baby Taj was just the icing on the cake for this amazing day. We highly recommend a Taj Mahal sunrise tour, even if you don’t get to see the sun. Although there were some hiccups and annoyances with our tour experience, we don’t regret it.
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