Today I was thinking of the Taj Mahal. We have this big jigsaw puzzle, framed and up on one of the walls and it made me pull out the photographs I had of the three times that I’ve got to see the Taj Mahal.
The last visit was with my boys, Sid and Gau, during the school break in February 2012. We did that trip from our home in Chandigarh, while my husband Srivathsa was busy at work. Before that, Srivathsa and I had used our annual leave in 1998 to make this trip from Bombay to the Golden Triangle. And my first visit memory in the 1970s is only from the pictures.
Any visit to the Taj Mahal mandates a photo on one of the iconic centre marble benches. The ‘Princess Diana 1992 bench’ which is closer to the monument than the others is often crowded and one usually needs to wait for a chance to sit on it. My boys and I were able to get someone to take our picture on the other bench in the previous row, that serves just as well.
Srivathsa and I got ours on one of the red sandstone benches… (not sure why we didn’t make a try for one of the marble ones)
… as did my mom and I during my first ever visit to Delhi/Agra in January 1973. The place is rather empty! We’d gone to see the Republic Day parade in Delhi and went to Agra after that.
Looks like my boys were on the same bench almost 40 years later!
Nice that we got a family picture – Mom, Dad and I.
A brilliant piece of architecture. Wonder when people will be able to go to see the Taj Mahal with the COVID-19 problem. I guess it will be a while, and with strict screening and entry protocols.
arathimy 