The Taj Mahal

                                                         Photographed by Shalini Goel

Emperor Shah Jahan described the Taj in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here,

Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.

Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,

All his past sins are to be washed away.

The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;

And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.

In this world this edifice has been made;

To display thereby the creator's glory.

As i stood at the Darwaza (The main gateway), with unblinking eyes rested on the Rauza (The main mausoleum), my feet slowly began to tip-toe the Bageecha (The gardens) leading me to the Rauza. Sideways glance brought into perspective 'The Great Symmetry' provided by the Masjid (The Mosque) on one side, and the Naqqar Khana (The resthouse) on the other side of the Rauza, disturbed at the interior chamber by the 'Lover of Symmetry' himself, for he could no longer have his symmetrical way with the placement of his own cenotaph.