After a good breakfast, we met in the hotel lobby to head back to the Taj for some daytime pictures. Our guide met us there and said he had a surprise for us first. Turned out it was our own little Holi celebration! We were welcomed with open arms by the other guests at the hotel...
The kids took this pretty seriously, too, they even had little powder shooters to aid in the fun.
Here's Vikram, our awesome guide:
And then back on the bus for the quick trip to the Taj. Yes, we went all covered with powder and everything - the locals loved it.
Even the dogs can't escape being Holi'd:
And here we are again! The first picture is the front gate, which is impressive in itself. We were in too big of a hurry in the morning and ran right past it.
A perfect time and place for a great group pic.
And then back to the Diana Bench. See, everyone wants to get their picture taken there! Gorgeous little kids all dressed up for the event. We couldn't get them to smile, though.
So happy to be in India during Holi!
You don't have to take your shoes off to go inside, but you do have to cover them up.
You're not allowed to take pictures inside, and to take pictures of the Taj Mahal this close doesn't work too well (I don't have a wide angle lens), but here you go.
There is no color used on the Taj, except for semi-precious jewel inlay. If you shine a flashlight right on it, it glows.
This family stopped me on the way out, asking: "Please to be making us a picture?" So I snapped a picture of them, showed it to them, all of them nodding in agreement, then they thanked me and walked away. A bit confusing... they didn't want the picture, just wanted to be in my blog, I guess.
This is one of the side buildings by the Taj Mahal, and one of my favorite pictures.
Still covered in Holi powder, touring Agra Fort was next on the agenda. A huge beautiful old palace, but still a bit of a letdown after just coming from the Taj Mahal.
Agra Fort is the place that Emperor Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb, who led a rebellion to take power when Shah Jahan fell ill. Aurangzeb killed his older brother and heir apparent, and placed his father under house arrest.
Shah Jahan recovered, but was not allowed to leave the palace. Here is the view from his palace window, he was at least able to see the Taj and his wife's resting place. He is entombed there now, right next to her.
And this was our last view, too. Goodbye Taj, we hope to be back someday.
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