At 6am I entered the main gate of Taj Mahal; I crossed a yard and went through another gate and there it stood.
It is grand. It is majestic. It is perfect. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of this human masterpiece. I had goosebumps (well, it was a bit chilly after all at 6 o'clock). It makes people look like ants. Yesterday's rickshaw driver was wrong when he said that the backside is the best to view the Taj. There are no words which can describe the grandeur of this monument.
It has been built between 1632 and 1653 by Shah Jahan. It is said that he built it for his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died shortly after giving birth to her 14th child in 1631. It is meant to be a symbol of eternal love. More critical voices affirm that it is expression of the emperor's megalomania and unbridled vanity.
Shah Jahan wasn't a very good being for he murdered his brothers in order to cease full power of the country. But back then this may has been a wise decision which may have saved the empire from falling apart. He died imprisoned by his own son after he took a massive overdose of opium and aphrodisiacs at the age of 74.
It is the Color Festival today. It is a holy day but I couldn't make out any festivities. It's just kids shooting loads of colours from their water pistols at people. I hid by the pool and luckily remained clean (actually, not getting painted means bad luck, but I am not supersticious anyway). A group of German pupils were brave enough to get out of the hotel. They came back in pink, yellow and green colours. Green proved to be most resistant when they tried to wash the colours off at the pool shower.