Agraphobia? Or WorldHeritageSitis?

Advantages: World Heritage Site, beautiful, impressive, must see, etc.
Disadvantages: Crowds, conmen, oppressive atmosphere

...-melons, the young plants shielded from the wind with screens of woven pampas grass. Beyond, a flat scrubby area was scheduled to have been the site of a matching mausoleum in black marble, to house the remains of Shah Jahan himself, like a mirror-image in negative. Needless to say, it was never built. Baulking at his father's extravagance and neglect of more pressing affairs of state, Shah Jahan's son, Aurangzeb, to whom he had entrusted command of the army, deposed him. Shah Jahan spent his declining years in comfortable confinement in the Red Fort, a mile or two further along the Yamuna, from which he could see the Taj Mahal and the untouched site across the river. Always a mistake to entrust complete control of the armed forces to anyone, as the Pakistanis among others have recently discovered. * Agra Fort, also known as...

torr 20.04.2006 (26.09.2008) · Read review
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Review of Agra and the Taj Mahal (India)

DID YOU EVER SEE A CASTLE IN THE AIR.

Advantages: ROMANCE
Disadvantages: Time your first view for the less crowded times.

...After reading several reviews I thought it is time to recall our visit to the Taj which is from memory so may be sketchey on detail, but there is all the necessary historical facts on other very good reviews , so this is just an old lovers memories. Jane (My very own Queen Mumtaz Mahal) and I were coming up to our Silver Wedding Aniversery in March 1995, so we wanted a very special destination for a Holiday to celebrate, we both had a hankering for India so a two week Holiday was booked to Goa with a mini tour included of Jaipur, Agra and Delhi. (The Golden Triangle). We had 7 Nights in Goa then it was time for the mini-tour. It was on the Flight to Jaipur that I lost my fear of flying. Goa to Bombay not too bad the Air hostesses served Curry Meat or Veg. Plane landed at Bombay every one got off except for our tour party of 22...

poshtroika 09.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Agra and the Taj Mahal (India)

A Symbol of Eternal Love and Peace.

Advantages: Be the one to explore this Wonder of World.
Disadvantages: None

...PALACE It is believed that the original name of Taj Mahal was MUMTAAZ MAHAL and it is unclear when the historians changed it to Taj Mahal. It is a deserving resting palace for the Emperor's Empress. It stands on the banks of the river Yamuna, which served as a wide moat defending the Great Red Fort of Agra, the center of the Mughal emperors until they moved their capital to Delhi in 1637. It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess. She died while accompanying her husband in Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion after giving birth to their 14th child. THE LAST WISH of EMPRESS: ------------------------------------------- As Mumtaz lay dying she demanded four promises from the emperor as her dying wish. 1. Build the Taj. 2. Marry Again 3...

vikramkanswal 08.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Agra and the Taj Mahal (India)

The Taj Mahal

Advantages: One of Indias most famous buildings, most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world
Disadvantages: None

...The Taj Mahal in Agra has to be one of the classic images of India and one of the World's major landmarks. I was once told you should only really go there with a lover, but I wasn't any less in awe just because i was in a group of 20, 17 year olds. It''s one of those places, along with the Great Wall of China, that I've always thought of as a place that you have to visit at some point in your life. Admittedly I ended up there quite by accident - if you can call having a fight cancelled and then missing the flight out of Delhi an accident.... but there you go. Agra was the centre for the Mughal emperors until they moved their capital to Delhi in 1637. And the Taj Mahal is infact a tomb. Built in 1631 by Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan as a tribute to his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, after she died giving birth to their 14th child...

Amy_Coppock 05.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Agra and the Taj Mahal (India)

What's the white shack over there?

Advantages: Taj view, great service, delicious food
Disadvantages: Limited dining, slow food, poor wheelchair access

...A few weeks back, while we were in Delhi, my dear Mrs V arranged for us to get out of the city for a weekend and go somewhere special. "Where are we going?" I asked. She wouldn't say. "Tell me if we're flying somewhere; I would like to do an op of an Indian airline." "No." "Does that mean no, we're not flying?" "It means no, I'm not telling. "Are we going to see tigers?" "Not saying." "Are we going on a train?" She wouldn't say. So, after several days of fruitless badgering, on the Friday afternoon we piled into the car and set off. We headed away from the airport, but I thought it might be a ploy, so I kept my pen and notebook out. An hour later I realised that we really, really were not going to the airport and around the same time I noticed that we were following signs to Agra. Sure enough, about three hours...

Vodkaboy 22.08.2005 (23.08.2005) · Read review
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Review of Oberoi Amarvilas Hotel, Agra, India

Triangular Guide

Advantages: Detail, Pictures & Diagrams
Disadvantages: Friends kept stealing it

...""Please note - this is a review of the 2003 version of the book and it has been updated and reprinted in 2007."" When it was finally confirmed that I would be spending a few weeks working in India towards the end of 2006, as well as organising injections, anti malarials etc I wanted to get a guide book to plan to get the most out of my weekends. Off I went to my local bookshop and started looking at India guides and I soon realised that there were some that covered the triangle of Cities in Northern India that I would hopefully be able to visit from our base in Noida (in the National Capital Region of Delhi) - Delhi, Agra & Jaipur. I think people have a favourite type of guide book be it Rough Guide, Lonely Planet or others but my favourite is the Eyewitness range which I had used for many years and had been invaluable not just...

BristolBud 02.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Eyewitness Travel Guide: Delhi, Agra & Jaipur - Kate Poole

The Taj Consipiracy

Advantages: Superb At Sunrise
Disadvantages: Big Crowds Later in The Day,

...The Taj Mahal stills stands as immaculately today as it did when it was first constructed. So the story goes, it was built by the Mogul Emperor Shah-Jahan between 1631 and 1645 in memory of his favourite wife. The mausoleum, it is said, still contains the crypt where she was eventually laid to rest. The emperor had made plans to build a black marble replica for his own mausoleum on the opposite bank of the Yamuna River, but only the foundations were laid before he was imprisoned at Agra Fort, in full view of the Taj Mahal, by his son. He stayed imprisoned for the remainder of his life, where he eventually died 1666. Recently it has been suggested that the Taj Mahal was not built specifically as a mausoleum, but is in fact an ancient Hindu temple that had been 'captured' and converted by the Emperor. In fact, there is extremely strong...

bruleo 31.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Agra and the Taj Mahal (India)

My trip to the Taj Mahal

Advantages: The sheer beauty of the mausoleum.
Disadvantages: None

...It had been my dream to go to the Taj Mahal for so long. Its sheer beauty seemed to grab a hold of me everytime I saw a picture of it. My eyes were fixated and I found myself unable to tear myself away from the different pictures I came across. I desperately wanted to see the amazing mausoleum for real. Soon my time came as my family had decided to visit the North of India in order to see Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. I was so excited at this prospect and made sure that I had 1 whole film just for the Taj Mahal. When the day finally came for us to visit it, my cousins and I decided that we would close our eyes before entering the grounds so that the first thing we saw was the tomb in all its glory, not blocked by obstacles. The streets were so dusty and the weather was muggy. Despite feeling lethargic due to the sweltering heat, we carried...

kavita 03.09.2001 · Read review
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Review of Agra and the Taj Mahal (India)

A city which sings the saga of herioc kings....

Advantages: you would get to see TajMahal.
Disadvantages: may be you would encounter lots of cheats!!!

...Agra is one of the oldest cities in India. It is located in the northern plains on the banks of river jamuna & is a city which speaks the true tales of glory , power, war and love. Agra is a city of traditions and culture , it?s a city which has one of the most beautiful and preserved cultural monuments -the TajMahal ,the Agra fort, etmat-ud-duala , dayalbagh temple, a beautiful garden called Ram Bagh , Sikandara where lies Akbar?s (the Mughal Emporor?s) grave. For ages both Hindus and Muslims have lived here with the feelings of unity and brotherhood. It is famous for both art and architecture. One of the most talented Artisans are found in Agra who excel in making beautiful bags, clothes and other accessories and decorating the same with astonishing embroidery done with silver and gold thread known as zari work. It is also famous...

anupamasahu 04.11.2004 · Read review
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Review of Agra and the Taj Mahal (India)

TAJ COZY NEIGHBOUR

Advantages: proximity to the Taj
Disadvantages: Mozzies

......

plug86 03.01.2008 (05.01.2008) · Read review
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Review of Hotel Sheela, Agra