Sarnath to Delhi

Greetings from Delhi, where I am exploiting cheap internet in the major tourist strip, which is so much more pleasant that Colaba in Bombay. This morning I even had a bagel! And pita, hummus, Israeli salad, and croissants.
But first, catching up: Sarnath was a nice break from the bustle of Varanasi. Unfortunately, too hot to really enjoy. We saw the stupa where the Buddha gave his first sermon, and a pitiful little zoo in the Deer Park. Large granite plaques in a dozen languages displayed the text of this teaching around a shrine of the bodhi tree, apparently all financed by a devout Sri Lankan Buddhist. I feel such pride whenever I see Sri Lankan stuff- kind of a funny association. (In college, the fall after my summer in Sri Lanka, I was sitting in front of two guys chatting during a rehearsal for the South Asian culture show I was in for three years. One of them mentioned something about being from Sri Lanka, and I turned around and said "Really? I thought I was the only one." Clearly the lines are blurry for me when it comes to Sri Lankan identity.) Nicely laid out gardens and a Jain temple also surround the area, but we were harrassed by a set of beggars who were particularly pathetic and heartwrenching. Somehow I feel validated in not giving them anything if the other visitors don't either, but it still nags at me.

The overnight train to Agra was also really hot and difficult to sleep, so once we arrived at our guest house in Taj Ganj, the main tourist area just besides the big mama herself, I crashed for several hours. In the afternoon we visited the "Baby Taj," another mausoleum/monument built for members of the royal family of the Mughal rulers about 400 years ago. Beautiful marble work and carving, and manicured gardens. From there we crossed the Yamuna River to see a ruins site with a view of the back of the Taj Mahal. Apparently this was a site where Shah Jahan intended to build a 'black taj' with a bridge across the river to the main structure, and there was an Indian newscrew filming a piece about it. As we were the only tourists suckered into paying the entrance fee for this garden with the view (as opposed to walking along a path just beside to go to the riverbank and see it for free), the journalists interviewed us, and supposedly we're going to be on tv! IndiaToday- he mentioned at least half a dozen times that it's the country's biggest news network. Just when you least expect it, celebrity sneaks in, yet again. ;-)

Besides the celebrity thrill, the Taj, even from behind, is absolutely stunning. What they say is true. The white marble with all its variations caught the sunset hues and seemed to emit a sort of glow. And the sheer size of it is simply spectacular. Yesterday we'd intended to go at sunrise, but decided to try to catch up on sleep instead, and go around 10am. The lane leading to the main entrance is full of shops selling "postcards, one rupee! taj figurine, good price madam, come look at my shop, one rupee postcards! ok, you come back later. ok ok," but as soon as we got to the entrance itself, all the sound fell away and there's just this feeling of serenity and elation. Clutching each other's hands, we stepped through the archways and ta-DA! There she is. The Taj Mahal. The Taj flippin Mahal. She took my breath away. She was worth every paise of the 750 rupee entrance fee (only 20 rupees for Indians. Scandalous!).

Leading up to the main structure are a series of lawns with manicured shrubs and trees, and in the center is a raised marble platform (evidently this is called a 'plinth'), where everyone wants to get THE SHOT of her, including the classic optical illusion pose where you appear to be holding the top of the dome. The plinth is surrounded by pools and in front of the main structure is a longer reflecting pool, all of which are sadly cloudy with dirt and algae, providing a good surface for underwater grafitti. Somehow we just didn't mind, though, because her beauty makes everything else irrelevant... except for the heat.

Approaching the main structure, there's a shoe wallah for Indian tourists, but foreigners are given mesh booties to slip on over your shoes, so we looked like we were going into surgery or something. Pretty funny. I guess they think that foreigners don't like to be barefoot? But considering the heat of the ground, I wasn't complaining. Walking up the stairs to the main level we were assaulted with the smell of locker room and feet, and I was afraid that her beauty would be marred by the stench. Luckily once we emerged, the air was (relatively) fresh again, and we could take her in from up close. Brilliantly detailed stone inlay and marble carving, elegant Arabic calligraphy, all impeccably perfect. Inside is a marble cut lattice gate surrounded the tombs of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan, perhaps the most famous couple in the world as their love is immortalized in this gorgeaus edifice, and more Arabic calligraphy from the Koran describing paradise and the judgment day. Apparently more than a monument to his favorite wife, Shahji also wanted the building to mimic the throne of heaven as described in an ancient Sufi text. All of the symmetry and courts and lawns were built according to the text's specifications. Either way, I cannot explain enough just how spectacular she is.

As the day went on and the heat broke with a cloud cover, the place was thronged with Indian tourists, and we were transformed into celebrities again. "May I take your picture, miss? Picture with you miss? We can have a photo together?" I really wonder what these people tell their friends about who we are in the pictures...

Anyway, spent the rest of the afternoon inside to stay out of the heat, just as we are today in Delhi. Took the train last night sitting next to a pack of religious devotees in matching orange robes. They were wearing amulets with their guru's photo, and I was interested to hear more about their beliefs and practice, but when I asked the man next to me what the significance was of orange, he just glanced at me, looked across the aisle to the rest of his crew, said something to them in Hindi, they laughed, and ignored us the rest of the ride. Um, weird. Not so encouraging of religious tolerance, friends. But behind us were very friendly and curious girls who restored my good faith, yet again, in the people of this vast and varied country.

We met a nice Aussie couple who are traveling overland from India to London on the train platform and came to the tourist strip with them to find a hotel. All over the street signs are in Hebrew and Korean as well as English. Hardly any Hindi at all- if you were a martian and dropped here from outer space, it would be tough to figure out which country this is. But I'm certainly appreciative of the presence of Israeli food. Tonight we'll check out the Delhi synagogue and/or Beit Chabad for Shabbat, and tomorrow afternoon off to Manali, into the mountains! May be a while before I have access again, but stay tuned.