Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal and Agra0105

Over 22 years, 20,000 different artisans worked on creating the Taj Mahal mausoleum to Emperor Shah Jahan’s third wife.

While the hype is huge, obviously, I didn’t walk away disappointed. Its beauty is exquisite.

Shah Jahan’s son had him imprisoned in a quest for power (the same son also had his 3 older brothers executed) and claimed that his father was wasting the money of the Indian taxpayer with a frivolous monument that was so expensive and ornate.

Taj Mahal and Agra0108My guide and I joked that the son may have thought he was wise, but didn’t have the foresight to understand the international tourism business.

Perhaps Shah Jahan wasn’t just lovestruck, but had a keen insight of the long-term Return on Investment he would gTaj Mahal and Agra0109enerate?

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