Taj Mahal in the morning

Man walking his camel beside the Yamuna River, with the Taj Mahal in the background (9 November, 2004)


Even before I arrived in Agra, I have already decided that I would not be satisfied with the "run of the mill" photo of Taj Mahal. I wanted something more extraordinary, something more than the usual tourist snapshots. So, before arriving there, I studied the geography of the area, in particular, paying attention to the location and planning ahead how best to get truly extraordinary shots of this very famous site.

My friends and I decided that we would see the Taj Mahal at dawn, before the arrival of the mass tourists. We will return to the building once again in the evening. That way, we get to see the Taj Mahal with the sun at different parts of the sky, and we felt sure this will give us truly outstanding photos of the place.

We set our alarm clocks to wake us early. The date was 9 November, 2004. The evening before, we had booked an auto rickshaw to take us on this trip. With the excitement of anticipation and the early hours we had to get up, sleep seemed short that night. When the alarm clock went off, I momentarily wished for a few more minutes in bed. But the thought that I would soon be face to face with the Taj Mahal had me out of bed in a hurry.

When we got the front door of our hotel, the lone rickshaw driver was already waiting for us at the porch, in the dark silence of the morning. We piled into his rickety rickshaw, all five of us, squeezed almost like sardines in a can. The rickshaw made its way down the quiet streets of Agra, breaking the silence with the dull tuk tuk tuk of its motor. It did cross my mind that this contraption might fall apart before we got to our destination, but thankfully it did not.

We arrived at the Taj Mahal in utter darkness. As we had expected, it had not opened for the day. Nonetheless, we were consciously aware that we had to hurry, for dawn would arrive soon. We made our way down the path that skirts the side of the Taj Mahal. The monument was encircled by high walls, like ramparts.

After a short distance, we arrived by the banks of the Yamuna River. When we got there, the river was still encased in darkness. There is some sort of a pavilion topped with a cupola near the bank. Apparently we were not the only tourist with the same idea, for we came across a small handful of European tourists who were also stationed there.

Banks of the Yamuna River in the early morning (9 November, 2004)


I spent a moment gazing at the dead silence of the river. Then I turned around, and almost gasped. For there it was, in all its glory, the Taj Mahal. This was my very first sight of the monument.

My first sight of the Taj Mahal (9 November, 2004)


There were also a scattering of locals going about their business. I wasn't too sure what they were up to. I think there was a man offering some sort of prayers. You could not imagine how dirty the river bank was. Let me show you a photo that doesn't appear in tourist brochures.

Trash-filled bank of the Yamuna River (9 November, 2004)


At times, the river was so still, its surface had hardly a ripple. There was a mist that veiled the distance.

Boat mirrored on the Yamuna (9 November, 2004)


This being India, you always come across human somewhere. And you can never completely understand why they are there, and what they are up to. Often they just sit there, waiting, and a moment later, they are gone. Like this elderly man.

Old man by the Yamuna River (9 November, 2004)


I came across a dhoby washing clothes in the river. I wondered to myself whether the clothes would get any cleaner in such a murky water. He appeared to be thrashing the clothes vigorously on stone slabs placed at regular intervals on the bank.

Dhoby at work on the Yamuna (9 November, 2004)


Looking across the Yamuna River, I could see a lone pavilion standing out, almost shrouded in the mist. I speculated that perhaps that was the site where Shah Jahan had intended to built a mirror copy of the Taj Mahal, out of black marble. It was to be the mausoleum the ruler had planned for himself. This account, first mentioned by 17th century European traveler Jean Baptiste Tavernier, had since been discredited as myth. Perhaps what I was seeing is a pavilion at Mehtab Bagh, a Mughal garden built by Emperor Babur.

The view across the Yamuna River (9 November, 2004)


Then I noticed a boat ferrying people across the river. Perhaps the boatmen would accept us as passengers? I waited for him to reach this side of the Yamuna, and then went over to talk to him.

Boat crossing the Yamuna (9 November, 2004)


Of course he was only too happy to have us as passengers. And after a short negotiation, we were on board.

Boatmen on the Yamuna (9 November, 2004)


As we crossed the river, I saw a man appearing on the other side on a camel. Now, wasn't that an interesting sight? I arrived on the opposite bank just as the camel went past me.

Camel by the Yamuna (9 November, 2004)


I saw people taking photographs of the camel, and that gave me an idea. Could I ask the camel man to walk his camel about on the banks of the Yamuna, with the profile of the Taj Mahal in silhouette? Even if I had to pay him, it was worth a shot.

And of course, as I have discovered repeatedly in India, people are extremely obliging, with the expectation of receiving some form of tips, of course. So I got the camel man to walk his camel about, and managed to get two good shots - my favourite being the one at the top of this page. Now, this is the type of photograph I wanted.

Camel walking on the Yamuna (9 November, 2004)


The camel made a couple of rounds, and then both camel and man were gone. It was so fast. Good thing I got my shots, otherwise I could be standing there for nothing. Left there along beside a lazy river, I had the chance to appreciate the beauty of the Taj Mahal.

It was like a fairy castle emerging from the veil of mists. For a moment, I took my eyes away from the mudflats and just drank in the panorama unravelled before me. There it was, that magnificent monument, silently watching the river go past, as it had been for hundreds of years.

Taj Mahal in the mist (9 November, 2004)


Meanwhile, our two Indian boatmen, seeing how eager we were in getting photos of the Taj Mahal, decided to manoeuvre their boat so that we could get some shots of it. Here are some shots I took of them.

Our boatmen and the Taj (9 November, 2004)


Boatman on the Yamuna (9 November, 2004)


Boatman with the Taj Mahal (9 November, 2004)


The man with his boat (9 November, 2004)


Soon the sun was getting high in the sky, and we knew we have to hightail back to the hotel. We were going to return to the Taj Mahal again later that day, to get the evening shots, but that's another story.

Tim with the Taj Mahal (9 November, 2004)

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