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2005_0924_003 Our guide suggested that we wake up early for the Taj so we left the hotel at 6:30am |
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2005_0924_005 The Taj Mahal basking in the morning glow of the sun viewed from our Hotel room |
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2005_0924_007 Anish's mom, Anish and Imran, our very knowledgable tour guide |
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2005_0924_012 Gateway to the Taj |
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2005_0924_015 Silhouette of the entryway into the Taj complex |
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2005_0924_017 Facade of the main gateway to the Taj |
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2005_0924_020 Framed view of the Taj Mahal from the gateway |
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2005_0924_021 Taj Mahal means "Crown Palace" |
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2005_0924_022 Reena with hardly any tourists in sight |
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2005_0924_024 The Taj was built by the 5th Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess |
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2005_0924_027 It took 22 years and 20,000 workers to build |
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2005_0924_029 The Ranpurias |
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2005_0924_030 The material to build the Taj was brought in by a fleet of 1,000 elephants from all over India and central Asia |
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2005_0924_038 Looking back on the gateway |
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2005_0924_042 The Taj was designed by the Iranian architect Ustad Isa |
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2005_0924_043 Touching the tip of the Taj |
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2005_0924_044 Anish pushing over one of the 4 minarets which were intentionally built to slant outwards so that they would fall away from the tomb in the event of an earthquake |
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2005_0924_046 Legend has it that artisans had their hands lopped off after their work was complete to prevent them from ever making anything as glorious as the Taj again. Our guide explained that this was a phrase that was taken too literally and there is no credible proof of it. |