YES ITS AMAZING...

Well I have finally seen it and...

...yes its amazing.

Waking up at 5am to get to the Gate to see the sunrise over the Taj wasn't much fun though. Apart from anything else the Gate doesn't open until 6am, by which time the sun has already risen, so its pretty pointless in that respect. Nevertheless if you can get to the Taj before about 9/10am when the crowds really start its worth it as the air is cool and the place is virtually yours.

Getting in there is hard though. I had to go through the checkpoint three times before I could go through. Apparently the following things constitute security threats in the wake of Sept 11:

1) A copy of the Bible
2) A copy of the Bagavad Gita
3) A copy of short stories by R K Narayan
4) A spy thriller by John Le Carre (evidence of Islamic Terrorism if ever there was one)
5) A mobile phone recharger
6) An notebook full of poems
7) A nuclear warhead

Actually I am joking about the last one. It wasn't a nuclear warhead, it was an AK 47. Actually I'm joking about that too (did you guess?). I didn't have any dangerous weapons on me (at least no obvious ones, mwuhahah!). The guy in front of me had some chocolate bars confiscated, which was particularly harsh as there is nowhere to buy refreshments in the Taj. The whole thing felt utterly ridiculous, but I didn't argue and on reflection I saw what they meant. After all, a copy of the Bible, if attached to a rocket launcher, can become a deadly weapon. And don't even ASK me about the Bagavad Gita!

At the end of the day I politely asked why books were banned and was told it was to do with something called 'a paper bomb'. Sounds plausible to me. Let's hope we don't hear any headlines about Terrorists occupying the Taj Mahal and threatening everyone with Mars Bars and Mobile Phone Rechargers. Imagine the carnage!

So make sure you don't waste your time when you queue up by having anything in your bag which might be construed as a dangerous weapon, which might be anything from a hairnet to a piece of cheese. Keep it simple. Also, you don't need a guide. One of the best things about the Taj is that once you are in, no-one can bother you offering drums, plastic guitars or offers of guiding. Only paying guests are allowed in. Let yourself roam free and let your imagination play... There is nothing they can tell you to help.

What does one say about the Taj Mahal? It is amazing and it doesn't disappoint. When I first saw it it was almost impossible to take it in. It was there but it felt unreal. It is flawless, standing there in the sun like some timeless piece of perfection. It is deeply poetic and deeply Islamic. Wandering around it one marvels at the precision and focus that has gone into it. The mind comes to rest trying to take it in, trying to contemplate it. It is utterly simple yet totally complex at the same time. I am babbling. You just have to see it.

When I arrived, it was almost empty. It was hard to know how to start, what pace to take. It stands at the end of the gardens which are themselves beautiful and elegant, masterpieces again of symmetry and precision. An odd feature of the day was that when I arrived, the distance between the gates and the Taj seemed huge but when I left, there seemed to be no distance at all.

After a while, it became clear that there were many different Tajes, all contained in the one Taj. Its measurements and symmetries are based upon the wrtings of the great Sufi Mystic, Ibn Arabi's ideas of the dimensions of Paradise, and for this reason perhaps, every angle you looked at it yielded up a different experience. It feels multidimensional, constantly transforming it depending upon where you are while always remaining exactly the same. The Taj looked at from the left was different to the Taj looked at from the right. Viewing it from a distance and viewing it from close up in the inner areas was equally different. It was fascinating. From a distance it seemed majestic and manageable, but when you climb up the steps to the entrance to the Mausoleum, it is overwhelmingly huge. Although its 300 years old or so it feels like it was built yesterday. It is genuinely timeless. The Mosque on one side is also an amazing experience, very haunting and peaceful. As I wandered around it and eventually just sat in its shade looking at the Taj through one of its arches, I was struck once again by how all genuine places of worship are about giving us a sense of the Infinite, not just without us but within us. In the end that is all there is.

As I sat there contemplating it in the sun, it struck me that the uniquess of the Taj was that it was the only monument I had ever seen - except perhaps Glastonbury - which I could not imagine anywhere else. Notre Dame, Rumi's Lodge in Konya, even Stonehenge or the Temples I had seen in Tamil Nadu I have always been able to feel could be somewhere else, but not the Taj Mahal. It seems to be unique and perfect where it is, indivisible from the time and space it exists in. Its no wonder it is the iconic image of India. It could not be anywhere else. Only in this extraordinary country with its extraordinary history, culture and atmosphere of the mystical could this building be. You have to come and see it. There is no other way of conveying what it is like other than in gush like this!

I thought over all I had seen and experienced in India and realised that I had only touched the surface of what this country has to offer. I thought I had really got to the heart of things in Tamil Nadu et al but now I realise I haven't. The levels of this nation are infinite and one could explore it all one's life and never get to the bottom of it. I thought I had begun to know India but here in the north a whole new array of possibilities opened up. All around me were Sihks, Muslims, Hindus as well as people from all over the world. The clothes and atmosphere were absolutely the images we associate with India. I felt suddenly even more perfectly at home and realise that I will come back, I have to come back. There is so much more to see and do. An exhibition of all the great sites of India from all its different periods drove that home even more. The sheer enormity of its cultural inheritance is overwhelming. It feels like everything is here - Western and Eastern, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Hindu, Sikh, Secular you name it. There were even images of Neolithic sites which look exactly like the dolmens and standing stones we see all over the UK. Everything seems possible here, the inspirational and beautiful alongside the corrupt, violent and grotesque. Diversity and spirituality seems inherent in the people. No wonder it is so often called Mother India, the cradle of all civilisation. As I looked at the Taj, perhaps the finest expression of the Islamic culture, I thought how so many cultures have expressed themselves at their best and at their worst in India and once again gave thanks that I have been given the opportunity to explore it all here...

So the Taj was an astonishing experience. I didn't end up doing the whole day and intend to come back in the evening tomorrow to see the sunset, just as I did in Thnjavur. Instead I am going to brave the rest of Agra to see some other monuments - Agra Fort where Shah Jahan, the creator of the Taj Mahal, ended his days incarcerated by his son, Aurangzeb and then the Mausoleum of Akbar the Great, the most visionary and cultured of the Moghul Emperors. Then the sunset, and then preparation for my final port of call before returning to the kids, Delhi.

And my dream? Was it real? Well yes and no. There is a river, situated at the back of the Taj, affording a magnificent view of Agra replete with the Fort, cows grazing by the water and kids bathing, as if giving a glimpse of the timeless life of India. There is no cabin, unless I was amalgamating my journey on the train with the Taj itself. But who cares? The dream was about my time in India being a mighty experience, a promise of what was to come. And so it has proven to be. I have seen the Taj Mahal, the Jewel in the Crown of the Jewel in the Crown and the expereince seems to be the quintessence, the summing up of the whole miraculous experience of India. Who can ask for more? Perhaps Delhi will hold even greater treasures, but even if it doesn't, I have seen more wonder in my time here than ever before. And there is so much more to see in the future. I have already seen things which speak of the highest achievements and aspirations human beings are capable of. The world is amazing. Its easy to forget. We need to get a sense of that amazingness back. We need it. Wonder is what we live for. When we lose sight of it, we lose sight of why it is good to be alive. I say this from experience!

Wish me luck and joy for tomorrow! May you all one day see this remarkable building. Blessings to all!