वह ताज!

"The epic of love written in white marble"! This is how people describe The Taj Mahal-The Number One of the Seven Wonders of the world.The story of Shah Jahan and his immortal love for Mumtaz Mahal! When you hear it you think, how can anything be so beautiful!! How can a monument made of stones personify love in all its glory!! Believe me it does. I entered the town of Agra after travelling for some 16-17 hours in train from Pune.Tired by the journey, went straight to Hotel in Agra's colourful autorickshaws.Being a history freak, I always wanted to visit the capital of Mughal Empire . My date with the Mughal Empire started with the visit to Fatehpur Sikri. The huge buildings built in red stone tells their own story. The huge Buland Darwaza, the Birbal Bhavan, Diwan-e-Aam , beautiful Diwane-e-Khas and of course the 'Jodha Bai' Mahal sends you back to the Mughal Empire. It was quite a thrill to me to walk the walks where Akbar had walked, had held his meetings, listened to Tansen. All the stories, all the history came alive. I wonder how did they live in such granduer amongst such beautiful architecture.The next destination was to visit the tomb of Akbar the Great. As history goes, he started to build the tomb much before he died but couldnt live to see it complete.
The next destination was the Agra Fort. We were already tired by now walking around in the sweltering heat.This is the place where Shah Jahan spent his final days watching Taj Mahal in peace. This was my first glimpse of Taj Mahal. Standing at the edge of Yamuna, the white monument holding within itself thousands of years of history and the beauty of India.The whole world recognizes India by this beautiful monument. After having my first glimpse, I was eager to see how Shah Jahan looked at it. The fort is a beautiful mark of Mughal Architecture with the beautiful carvings, paintings and the story on stone. As I moved on into it, every object, building in the fort spoke about its master. The series of Mughal kings who ruled India for a long time. Finally I entered Shah Jahan's chamber and caught a view of Taj Mahal. Although today, its partially covered with concrete buildings, you can imagine how did Shah Jahan feel looking at his beautiful wife resting his peace and longing to be with her forever. He wanted to build another Taj for himself in black marble but rest is history. Moving on, we finally headed towards the grand finale. To see the Supreme Taj. It takes quite an effort to get inside but believe me its all worth it!! I caught the second glimpse of Taj through the huge red gate. The feeling is unbelievable. You really feel at that point of time, how can anything be so beautiful! You can stand there and look at Taj for hours together without feeling it. Its like a dream. I went up to pay solace to two remarkable people who were responsible. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal lying next to each other in peace. I left Taj with a beautiful memory and with the hope to see it again dancing in the moonlight.