Friday, October 17, 2008

Love


Everyone knows the photo of the Taj Mahal, but this place is an incredible tribute to love. The Shah Jahan used his absurd power to build the incredible tomb for his favorite wife… the others are buried in smaller tombs around the vicinity- I’m assuming they didn’t get along.

            The tomb is symmetrically perfect, the marble changes color with the sun and hundreds of people are dressed in beautiful saris or suits to honor one of the seven wonders of the man-made world.

            We all took off our shoes and padded into the tomb. Chiseled marble screens were the only source of light so we felt our way around the mausoleum. Jahan had designed the place down to the last details in the chiseled marble flowers that bordered the rooms’ entryways. Outside, black marble calligraphy along the walls quoted the Koran and painted marble zigzags crawled up the sides of the windows. It’s a tomb, it’s a mosque, but mostly it’s a beautiful work of art. 

This sure isn’t jersey because… in the entrance-line, men are sent straight through the gates while women wait 30 minutes so they can be frisked. 

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