INDIA: A real wonder of the world

Feb 23 2008 by David Firth, Liverpool Daily Post

David Firth takes a luxurious journey to one of the world's most romantic places

THE two customs men looked fierce, and I feared a telling off for losing my landing card between immigration control and the baggage carousel.

But the ice was broken with a bribe of two Cox's apples, and the Delhi airport officials overlooked my absent-mindedness and cheerfully waved me through.

It was my first taste of India's extremes - outwardly officious, but in truth, intensely down to earth.

Though I was here as a tourist, my Indian adventure was not to be made backpacker style. I was to mix luxury, as a guest of Oberoi hotels, with the sights, sounds and smells of one of the world's most romantic buildings, the Taj Mahal.

My visit was in June, and yes, it was hot.

Few tourists visit in midsummer, with cooling monsoon rains still a month away. But if you can stand the thermometer hitting the 40 degree mark, it's a quieter and cheaper time to see north India's majestic emblem.

I travelled to Agra, home of the Taj, by road. A distance of 130 miles, Delhi and Agra are directly linked by one of India's finest dual carriageways, so I was told. But while the highway is indeed wide, my minibus was fighting for space with oxen, bicycle rickshaws, tractors, buses and overloaded trucks.

Some Oberoi guests charter planes between destinations, though the road journey gives a better taste of life in busy northern India.

We left during the morning rush hour, as thousands of briefcase-holding Delhi office workers rushed between the traffic.

Beyond the suburbs the road was quieter, but my minibus never ventured faster than 40mph - as the driver was regularly confronted by both animals and vehicles taking short-cuts the wrong way down the road.

Trucks all carry the message, "Use horn" painted on the back. And drivers do; the journey was punctuated by honks of every pitch, from motorbike croaks to tractor hoots.

Only brave or foolhardy visitors would hire a car for the trip. But just under five hours later we were there - pulling into the Oberoi Amarvilas, where every room boasts a clear view of the Taj Mahal, barely 600m away.

Inside, you're returned to India at its most luxurious, and in high summer the hotel is only one-third full.

Built as a tribute to the Taj, pictures and plans of the palace adorn the walls. Drinks, meals, even spa treatments can be taken in full view of the Taj - just in case you forget you're somewhere special.

Most guests only stay one or two nights, before travelling on to destinations such as the hills of Jaipur, but Agra is worthy of a longer stay.

The Taj is traditionally visited soon after dawn, or before sunset. I decided to go after sunrise - after first taking in the view from my balcony. The ivory domes rose above the surrounding trees, flown over by green parakeets and jet black crows.

Then, a quick journey by motorised golfing cart and I was there - to discover that the palace was as beautiful seen through my own eyes as the photographs suggested.

It is almost eerie to see something which is so familiar. And luckily for me, it had rained a week earlier, so the marble walls were washed of dust and radiated in the sun.

At the gates of the Taj, and indeed outside all tourist traps, hawkers are ready to pounce - and you've got to be ready for them. The persistence of postcard and guide-book sellers can be frustrating.

Once through the gates, however, the world is once more at peace.

The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the mid-17th century, a monument of love to his favourite wife, queen Mumtaz Mahal. The white marble was carried by elephants from 200 miles away. It took 22 years and 20,000 men to build.

Passing through the grand red sandstone gateway, the Taj lies dead ahead, beyond its famous watercourse. It was quiet, even after 8am.

Once at the building itself, shoes are removed and you walk to its entrance up smooth, marble steps. Up close, you are confronted with fantastically-intricate stone carvings. Marble screens are inlaid with semi-precious stones such as black onyx, opaque yellow jasper and sea green turquoise.

From 600m away, or at arm's length, the Taj is breathtaking.

What is amazing to a Western visitor is that so little is off-limits. Because the marble of the Taj is so hard, it has only been polished, not worn, by the millions of hands and feet which have brushed against it.

Once inside, beneath the central dome, the perfect symmetry is only broken by the tomb of the man who created it. When Shah Jahan died in 1666, his casket was placed beside that of his lover Mumtaz Mahal, although his presence was never intended.

Decorative white minarets stand at each corner of the building, tilted outwards at six degrees so that they will not cause damage should they fall.

Twin red sandstone buildings frame the Taj. The western one is a mosque, and an identical eastern one is purely for symmetry.

Such is the Taj's pulling power, there were far more Indians than Western tourists who had come to pay homage. A handful of Muslims prayed in the mosque which lies to the side.

Outside a coach load of middle-aged Indians took a "team photo" to prove they had been there, but for the people of Agra, I suspect visiting the Taj is something to be done regularly.

That evening, back on my balcony, it took on an orange glow with the surrounding sky filled, not with birds, but by kites flown by children from the roofs of their homes.

Agra is also famous for its enormous Red Fort. Built on the banks of the river Yamuna from 1565, its 20m outer walls hide a small city within a city. What started out as a military base soon became a palace, with grand meeting rooms, temples and mosques deep inside.

Shah Jahan spent the last seven years of his life imprisoned by his son in the fort's Octagonal Tower, from where you can see the distant Taj Mahal. His crime? He wished to squander family riches on another Taj which was never finished.

Further afield, 32 miles west of Agra lies Fatehpur Sikri, a "ghost city" abandoned after only 14 years due to a lack of water. It was built by Mughal emperor Akbar from 1571 on a hill top, and is fantastically preserved thanks to the durable red sandstone from which much of it is built.

Fatehpur Sikri is a restful place which commands fantastic views of the surrounding flat countryside and is cooled by fresh winds.

Akbar built palaces here for each of his wives, in styles reflecting each wife's religion; Hindu, Christian and Muslim.

There are palaces too for his army of concubines, so the city contains a huge array of architectural styles.

Again, nothing was off-limits and - after covering my head and legs for propriety - I was free to enter the mosque and make a wish beside a tomb by tying a thread to a marble screen.

My wish came true (no airport delays for my return journey) and so did a wish of a fellow visitor.

She hoped to see an elephant. Returning to Agra through a village, there it was, brushing up against our minibus at the roadside.

The Indian tourist board's catchphrase is "Incredible India". They aren't kidding.

* DAVID FIRTH travelled with Air France which flies to Delhi via Paris from nine UK airports including Heathrow (from £428.40p); Manchester (from £423.50); Aberdeen (from £454.80) and Edinburgh (from £421.70).

Air France reservations: 0870 142 4343 and www.airfrance.com

Operators with packages to the Taj Mahal include Somak, which offers return flights, transfers and three nights' B&B at the Oberoi Amarvilas from £1,629, incl transfers. Eight-night room-only packages, including JET return flights into Delhi and road transfers to Agra, start at £1,199.

Somak reservations: 0208 423 3000 and www.somak.co.uk. Oberoi Hotels and Resorts reservations: 00800 1234 0101 and www.oberoihotels.com.