The Taj Mahal was even more impressive than I expected, though the beggars, intense poverty, and polluted streams surrounding it were discouraging. I expect there has always been a shocking contrast between the opulence of the massive white marble structure and the struggling masses outside it's gates. Emperor Shah Jahan built the structure to honor his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, after she died bearing their fourt
eenth child. It took 17 years to complete the main mausoleum and a full 22 years to complete the entire complex. 20,000 laborers worked continuously and 1,000 elephants ferried the translucent white marble from a distance of over 300 kilometers. Shah Jahan was a great lover of architecture and is also responsible for many other buildings, including the largest mosque in India, the Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) of Delhi. My visit there was my first entrance into a mosque and I found it a calming respite from the urban chaos of Delhi. It had the air of a 
park with families strolling about the grounds and men sleeping in the shade of the bordering archways.The Mughal Empire was ruthless in its aggressiveness against outsiders and its own. In order to gain power, Shah Jahan rebelled against his father and brothers. Princely competition among Mughal sons determined who gained the throne, thus murderous intrigue abounded. Shah Jahan's own son, Aurangzeb, deposed him when he fell ill. Aurangzeb then killed his own brother and placed his father under house arrest in the Agra Fort. For his last eight years Shah Jahan could only gaze at the Taj Mahal through the bars of his royal prison at the Taj Mahal. On the other hand he was allowed to keep his entire massive harem with him until the very end so it can't have been too rough for him over there.
While in Delhi, we also visited the Sikh temple in Delhi. It is at the location where the ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was martyred for not converting to Islam. Washing my feet with the other adherents before entering made it clear we were entering a privileged place. It was fascinating and strange to wander through the turbaned-adherents as they prayed and knelt in front of a golden shrine. Men and women prayed together while a man sang religious songs and others drummed. We drew very little attention as we wandered among them. T
ry to imagine a group of, say, Indian tourists wandering about taking photographs during a Christian church service and you'll get a sense of how it felt. No matter. Our guide assured us that no one would mind. This seems to be another example of very different ideas about privacy and personal space. Even sacred space is largely public in India, despite the ongoing religious tensions throughout India. The bombings make the news, of course, but the daily accommodations of millions of diverse peoples living side-by-side are at least as noteworthy. In fact, in the next building, the congregation runs a continuously operati
ng kitchen that feeds anyone who comes asking for a meal. The labor is done by believers and anyone can partake at any time in a large open room where people sit on the floor in long lines consuming food. A beautiful gesture that exceeds the Christian soup kitchens of which I'm more familiar.
