You — or at least I — cannot travel to India without seeing the majestic Taj Mahal. One of the seven wonders of the world, this mausoleum was built by the emperor Shah Jahan for his second wife and the love of his life, Mumtaz. She died giving birth to his 14th child in 1631. From the Indian marble mausoleum and red sandstone gates to sandstone and marble mosque and guesthouse the site took 22 years to complete. Time and effort paid off for the Taj is truly an architectural and aesthetic marvel. Believe me, I’ll be dreaming of this jaw-dropping monument for decades.
Since so much has been written and said about the Taj Mahal, I’d like instead to offer tips for visiting this site. This will save me from having to think of something beyond my initial and lingering reaction of “Wow! Wow! Wow!” Plus, it also may provide fellow travelers with a few useful tidbits.
Guides: Your hotel concierge and the hordes of men lining the initial entrance to the Taj will insist that you hire a guide. Without him (it’s always a man) to explain the site and keep the hawkers at the front gate at bay, you won’t get much from your trip to the tomb. Truthfully, if you’ve read about the Taj in a good guidebook beforehand, you’ll have no problem navigating the well-manicured grounds.
Sean and I had the time and luxury of making two trips to the Taj, with and without guide. We were far happier on our own. The reason? Without a guide we could linger for as long as we liked, take as many photos as we desired and just stand, slack-jawed, in awe of the beauty before us. With a guide we felt pressured to keep moving and to listen to his every word, periodically missing what we were there to experience — the Taj Mahal.
More on guides and the whole aggressive, local vendor angle: Likewise, if you are an intrepid, independent traveler — and, let’s face it, you probably are if you’re hanging out in India — you know how to handle the pushy peddlers. In our experiences the touts have been far more hardcore in places such as Turkey, Mexico and Morocco. Here, if you ignore their pleas of “Madame, madame. I have something to show for you,” they leave you alone. And did they not bother us when we had a guide? Nope. Men and boys alike still attempted to sell us trinkets, rickshaw rides and even tour guides for other sites.
Backpacks, bags, paper of any kind: Leave them in your room or car. Otherwise, you’ll wait in the long security line only to be told that you can’t enter the site without first checking your bag. Our “Happy Holidays” sign, used in our annual holiday card, ended up in the trash because I couldn’t bear the thought of queuing up again.
Water bottles and cameras: Both are allowed on the site. Absolutely bring both. Combined, Sean and I took close to 400 photos on our two trips to the Taj. As for the water, I drank a liter each time. It truly is that hot and parching in India.
When to visit: Early morning or an hour before dusk. The crowds are lighter. The temperature is slightly lower (mid to upper 90s). And, perhaps most importantly for us, the lighting is stunning. At night the marble glows in the sunset. Just breathtaking!