Gardens
was a foggy morning but the sun was red and cast a yellow light onto this beautiful treasure. There were pelicans in in the river in the foreground. As we watched the light slowly increased. We were fortunate that the traffic was light this morning because of Holi. There was road work so the way was partly blocked. Sometimes the group is unable to get to the garden at all.
Today is Holi, the winter harvest festival of colors. The sound of loud Holi inspired music was everywhere. I had to take a movie of the Taj just to record the music which is a part of the festival. Everyone was already on the streets with colorful designs decorating the front of their homes and colors smeared on faces. It is a holiday from school and work so everyone is on the streets.
We came back to the hotel and gathered again for the hotel's party. Trays of colored powder greeted us. The young men in white gave us yellow. Dev just smeared it on the man and then we started throwing the colored powders on us all.
Next was pink, then green, then purple, then red. They had a discjockey playing music and a dance floor. We all danced and threw colors on each other for quite awhile. David wore his bathing trunks and a nylon shirt. I wore a Tshirt and shorts. After awhile everything was brown. The colors smelled nice. Everyone says Happy Holi to us all day. Some people celebrate all week.
We came back to the room and just got in the shower clothes and all. I had to eventually throw out my shorts and shirt. Dev said the colors would wash out, but not everywhere, unfortunately. They got inside my shirt and pants! We have too many clothes and are accumulating Indian dress so no matter.
This afternoon we visited the Red Fort here in Agra. this immense fort and palace were the seat of power for four generations of Mjughal emperors who ruled northern India from early 16th century until British colonial rule in the 1800s. This fort is much greater than the one we saw in Delhi. It is made out of the same red sandstone which gives it its name. But Shah Jahan put his touch to parts of it which was constructed in white marble like the Taj Mahal, and inlaid with designs in semi-precious stones. There was the public courtyard, the private courtyard, and the harem area. All are just huge! The public is only allowed in 1/3 of the complex. It is surrounded by a huge moat and had a drawbridge. The river is next to it. This river is nowadays quite low compared to even 10 years ago.
In one part of the fort Shah Jahan was imprisoned for 8 years by his son who wanted the throne for himself. He did have a view of the Taj, however and the area was of marble and beautifully decorated in his style.
The city of Agra has over 1,000,000 people. Dev said that if the Taj Mahal wasn't here as a tourist attraction, the city wouldn't exist. We passed a Wyndam hotel and a Sheraton.
After seeing the fort, we visited a marble inlay craftsman's store. They demonstrated the techniques used to create the stone inlays used in the Taj. There are about 250 families that continue this work and are descended from the original craftsmen. Their work, however, seems to be more detailed. There can be over 200 separate pieces of gems in just one flower. They showed us the showroom with tables and plates. You can buy a dining room table top for $40,000. A small marble box about 2 inches square can be $25 or $250 depending on the intricacy of the work. No one bought anything until Judy discovered you could buy a $25 box. David and I bought a very small box with an inlaid peacock, the national bird of India.
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