Agra--Home of the Taj Mahal--Oct 2016

The Taj Mahal is not located in New Delhi, as many people think. It is located in Agra, a city about 3 1/2 hours away by car.

This is the main gateway to the Taj Mahal. It is 93 feet high; the top of the gate has 11 domes between to high columns   --22 in all --depicting the number of years it took to construct the Taj Mahal. The Quranic verses "Inviting visitors into paradise" are inscribed in black stone on white marble surfaces around the gateway.

The first look at the Taj Mahal through the gateway is breathtaking.

The Taj Mahal was started in 1632 and completed in 1648 AD by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (the fifth Mughal Emperor) in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Emperor and his wife are the only people entombed below the structure. It is taller than a 20-story building (240 feet), the interior walls are 82 feet high. It combines elements of Persian and Indian  architectural styles. Some 20,000 people from India and Central Asia worked on the building.

The marble was brought from the famous quarries of Raja Jai Singh, which is 250 miles from Agra. 

These marble blocks were transported with the help of over 1,000 elephants.

Gola, our guide, has been telling people about the Taj for over 20 years.

The white marble is inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones such as jade, turquoise, sapphire, carnelian, etc. 

The arabic calligraphy is inlaid black marble.

The symmetry of the Taj Mahal, the gardens and buildings within it are perfect. The Taj itself looks exactly the same from any side. The above panoramic photo shows both the Mosque (facing west towards Mecca in this part of the world) and the Guest House as well as two of the four minarets--all in perfect symmetry.

Here are photos of the Mosque (top) and the Guest House (bottom). They are exactly the same architecture.

The lower photo is taken through one of the lattice windows in the Taj Mahal, looking back towards the Guest House.

These photos are looking back towards the main entry gate to the gardens, taken from the Taj Mahal main entry level. 

These photos show where the workers lived while working on the Taj Mahal.

Imagine feeding, boarding and keeping the peace of over 20,000 craftsmen for 22 years.

The Taj Mahal remains one of the seven wonders of the world--second only to the Pyramids of Egypt. It is visited by 2 to 4 million people each year.

Agra has many cottage industries including cutting, polishing and setting of precious and semi-precious jewels, as well as making rugs by hand.

Above--men cut and polish the jewels.
Below--the jewels are inlaid into marble stone.

We stayed at the Jay Pee Continental Hotel in Agra. 


Very large. 

Very nice.

The Agra Fort was built primarily as a military structure in 1565 AD. It is 1.5 miles in circumference and the double walls rise over 20 meters (nearly 66 feet). Even today, much of the fort is used by military personnel and is off-limits to the public. It had a crocodile-infested moat plus an additional ring for tigers and sometimes elephants. It was built with brick and then coated with hard cement to make it impervious to enemies. The entry we used was a long, steep ramp about 50 feet wide and 400 feet long with the tall walls of the exterior that the defenders of the fort would roll large rock balls down or pour slippery oil on the ramp to keep invaders from entering. Hello Indiana Jones!

The grounds were spacious and well kept gardens with buildings to house military and the royal family.

There are gathering places where people would come to get problems solved and decrees made by the Emperor. 
It was built in 1565 AD by Akbar, the first Mughal Emperor. 

The third Mughal Emperor was beloved by his people. He was the "peace maker"--he had three wives. One wife was Hindu, one was Muslim and the third wife was Christian.






Here we see all three religious symbols built into the columns of the fort. At the bottom is the lotus flower (important to the Hindu faith), in the middle there are symbols of the Muslim faith, and at the top is a cross symbolizing the Christian faith.

Precious and semi-precious stones are inlaid within the white marble.

If you put a small bright light on the stones, they glow the color of the stones. Magnificent!

We put our caps on, took our shoes off, and went inside the Muslim Temple.

Inside, we were able to think of three righteous desires and then tie three strings through the marble lattice work. Here the strings show on the outside.

Shah Jahan built the imperial quarters at the fort so that he could gaze across the river at the Taj Mahal from his home.

Later, it became his prison for eight years when his son, Aurangzeb seized 
power in 1658 AD.

The photo at the right is the view of the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort.

Sightseeing in Delhi--September 2016

This is the Qutub Minar tower--it is 72 meters (236 feet) high, has survived the ravages of weather for over 1,500 years--constructed in the year 1192 AD. It was constructed with a slight lean, away from the outdoor mosque so that if it fell, it would fall away from the mosque. 

The first three stories are made of red sandstone; the last two stories are made of marble and sandstone. The mosque is the first mosque built in India.

The tower is Afghan architecture.



"Qutub"means "Pole of Justices".



The diameter of the base is 14.32 meters (47 feet). 












When the base was excavated in recent time to determine its structural stability, archaeologists were amazed at the depth and width of the footings.

As the daily monsoon rains came, we went to India Gate, a memorial for World War I soldiers who fought and died for India.

At the Humayun's Tomb complex, we first saw the Isa Khan Niyazi Tomb. Built in 1547 AD, it is surrounded by a sunken garden, the first of its kind in India. Isa Khan Niyazi was a nobleman in the courts of Ibrahim Lodhi.

The Arab Serai Gate was built in 1560 AD. This 14 meter (46 feet) high gateway led to the walled enclosure which housed the Persian craftsman who came to build Humayun's Tomb.

Humayun's Tomb was built by his grieving widow in 1565-72 AD. It stands on a platform 120 meters (394 feet) wide and reaches a height of 47 meters (154 feet). The tomb has in it over 100 graves, giving it the name "Dormitory of the Mughals"

Humayun was the second Mughal emperor; he ruled over territory which is now Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of northern India.

We next took a cycle rickshaw ride through Old Delhi.

Upper Right:
Red Fort--the residence of the Mughal Emperor for nearly 200 years.

Lower Left:
Only in India! 

Yes, it is a sidewalk dentist.

Incredible!!

A visit to the spice market in Old Delhi...

On the streets of Old Delhi

August 2016 in Rajahmundry

Larry now reads the local Telugu newspaper...

Well, he reads the pictures and the numbers.

Our office has gathered lots of stuff on the walls now...there's a bulletin board on the back wall next to the window just above Larry's laptop computer; the large white board on the adjacent wall also above Larry's laptop has all of our projects listed with status notes; above the printer is a new GANTT chart for the new borewells in Gubbi Taluk, Tumkur outside of Bangalore. This project started as an idea in September 2015 and was approved on August 30, 2016.

We try to make the days count and not count the the days...






Ten months before we leave.

We saw these signs painted on the back of this lorry and thought it was worth a picture:   "Pappa Drive Slowly---Mommy Waiting for You"

These photos are on the road to a village called Mandapeta--about an hour west of Rajahmundry.

Notice the river is brown. That is what happens to the rivers during the monsoon season of July and August in India.

At the edge of the Godavari River, which runs next to Rajahmundry, just before the river runs to the Bengal Sea there is a statue of Christ very much like the one on the mountain near Rio de Janeiro. Here is a silhouette with the afternoon sun at His back.  

Three new stores opened up on the first level of our apartment building--an optical shop, an infant and maternity store, and a store specializing in traditional dhoties (men's skirts) and good quality shirts for men.

One day we were walking down the road near our apartment and found this creative shade hat that an apple seller had. It is an apple box packing cardboard.

I said, "Nice Hat" and the guy grinned proudly.

Raju's son, Jesse, dressed up as an Indian Freedom Fighter for a program at his school.

Here, Jesse is standing near the statue that is up the street from our apartment where the freedom fighter he represented is located.

It was a holiday commemorating the freedom fighters of India--the statue had decorations and there was a program at the statue earlier that day.

Brother Sampara and Sister Anita became formally engaged on August 24th. Their marriage was not necessarily "arranged" but, the parents of the couple have agreed to the marriage.

Here decorations, fruit and flowers are arranged. Professional photographers record every aspect of the engagement party with both video and still photographs. Over 100 people attended this party at the church house.

The couple wears one set of clothes at the beginning.

Later, each gives the other another set of clothes to wear as the engagement process proceeds.

Each family presents the gifts to their new son and daughter-in-law.

Here, Anita receives special bride's gifts and blessings from her new family.

Of course, there is also lots of Indian food to eat!

Outside the barber shop where Larry gets his hair cut a grandfather brings his grandson's bicycle to the bike shop for a tire repair. The boy watches intently as his treasured bike is repaired so he can once again stretch his independence.

There are wires stretched every where in India.

While in Hyderabad we saw this "Newton" institute.  We are not sure if it is an institute for crazy people or what...