October 4, 2009 @ Agra, India


Monkey

Tah Mahal west entrance

Prayer hall outside Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal enclosure

Monkey eating chip

Looking for more

First glance to the world famous structure

The original entrance, a massive arched gateway topped with delicate domes and adorned with Koranic verses

Built by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife

Chinese photographer lovers

The Taj Mahal is an immense mausoleum of white marble

Taj Mahal means *Crown Palace*

Kenneth @ Taj Mahal

A creative way to shot Taj Mahal

My 6th of the New 7 Wonders

There is an apocryphal tale that Shah Jahan planned to build an exact copy out of black marble on the opposite side of the river

Kenneth

Taj Mahal enclosure

Stands at the northern edge of Chowk-I Jilo Khana, directly aligned with the Taj

The Celestial Pool of Abundance

The tomb

Kenneth taking picture

Me @ Taj Mahal

smail Afandi, who designed the hemispheres and built the domes was from Turkey

Qazim Khan came from Lahore to cast the gold finial that would top the dome

Me & Kenneth

Mosque on the side of Taj Mahal

Chiranji Lal was called from Delhi to pattern the mosaic

From Shiraz in Persia came master calligrapher, Amanat Khan

Stone cutter Amir Ali was from Baluchistan

Mosque on the East side of Taj Mahal

Garden Mausoleum

Ustad Isa of Tukey is however credited to have been the main architect

Essentially square in shape, with peaked arches cut into its sides

Shah Jahan is now buried alongside his wife in the Taj Mahal

Mosque on the East side of Taj Mahal

Surrounding of Taj Mahal

Red sandstone carvings

Mosque nearby Taj Mahal

Shepherd

Camel stable

Camel stable

The ring at the bottom are used to tie the rope to the camel

Beautiful carvings @ Birbal House

The house of Akbar*s favorite minister, who was a Hindu

Notable features of the building are the horizontal sloping sunshades or chajjas and the brackets which support them

Beautiful carvings @ Birbal House

Kenneth & Me with the locals

Birbal House

Birbal House

Some structure @ Fatehpur Sikri

Panch Maha

A five-storied palatial structure, the bottom floor has 176 intricately carved columns

Maryam*s Mansion

Diwan-i-Khas aka Hall of Private Audience

King*s bed, ice were placed in the bottom level

Entrance to Jodhbai Palace

I wish I remember what is the signification of this bell-chain

Jodha Bai*s Palace is the largest and most important part of Imperial Harem

Having all facilities, provisions and safeguards

The colonnaded dalan contains curvilinear square pillars with beautiful moldings and extremely graceful brackets

The western suite serves the purpose of temple

This mom strip off the clothes of her daughter and started taking a shower here

Maryam*s Mansion

Red rock carvings

Jodhbai*s Kitchen

More hallway

The Imperial Residential Complex

Kenneth

Diwan-i-Khas

Anup Talao -- a tank with a central platform and four bridges leading up to it

Red rock carvings

Me @ Turkish Sultana*s House

Red rock carvings

Red rock carvings

Red rock carvings

Red rock carvings

Some building structure

Central pillar with thirty-six voluted supporting a circular platform for Akbar

More hallway

Karwan Sarai

Karwan Sarai

Buland Darwaza

Inside Tomb of Salim Chisti

Inside Tomb of Salim Chisti

Inside Tomb of Salim Chisti

Jama Masjid*s courtyard

Bride @ Jama Masjid

Me @ Buland Darwaza

Jama Masjid

Jama Masjid

View from Buland Darwaza

Jama Masjid surrounding

Jama Masjid

Tomb of Salim Chisti & Jama Masjid

Buland Darwaza

Entrance to Jama Masjid

Entrance to Itmad-Ud-Daulah*s Tomb

Itmad-Ud-Daulah*s Tomb

Sometime called the Baby Taj

It is sometimes described as a jewel box

Its garden layout and use of white marble, pietra dura, inlay designs and latticework

Marble carvings

Inside of Itmad-Ud-Daulah*s Tomb

Itmad-Ud-Daulah*s Tomb

Itmad-Ud-Daulah*s Tomb

Mosque

Itmad-Ud-Daulah*s Tomb

Itmad-Ud-Daulah*s Tomb

Itmad-Ud-Daulah*s Tomb

Yummy dinner

Me with Alibaba


Outside of Jodha Bai*s palace


Inside of Jodha Bai*s palace


Fatehpur Sikri


Jama Masjid