Photo of the Week: Amazed at the Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal, India

This week’s travel photo comes from the exotic and chaotic Indian subcontinent, specifically from inside the magnificent Taj Mahal complex in Agra.

The Taj Mahal is spectacular. We find that most famous tourist attractions with such notoriety rarely live up to the hype, but the Taj Mahal certainly made a lasting impression.

We arrived at the gates before sunrise and had the place to ourselves. Tourist buses didn’t start showing up until about 8:00AM, so we had a solid hour to explore before the crowds took over. The Taj Mahal is the centerpiece of a much larger complex, surrounded by beautiful gardens, reflection ponds and stunning gates (that beautiful structure in the distance is the main gateway).

That’s Cameron on the left, sitting on the marble mausoleum. It really puts the size and scale of the Taj Mahal into perspective, doesn’t it?

The Taj Mahal is often considered to be the finest example of Mughal architecture (an architectural style that combines Persian, Indian and Islamic elements) and, in 1983, it was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and describe as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage”.

Check out these past weekly travel photos:

• Spectacular views from the clifftop Village of Oia, Santorini
• Desert Oasis of Huacachina in Peru
• Check out the World’s Busiest Street Crossing
• Colourful Crab on the Galapagos Islands
• Searching for wild rhinos on the back of an elephant in Nepal

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Have you visited the Taj Mahal? What did you think?
Share your experiences in the comments section below, we’d love to read about it!

 

See map below to find out where this photo taken.

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