The first gate to the Taj Mahal. To get here, you take a walk along a pathway.

The second gate to the Taj Mahal.

Walking to get into the security line.

Two lines here for us as we were high value ticket holders. One line for gents and one line for ladies is to keep the sexes apart as part of the security screening is to give pat downs. There is high security at the Taj Mahal as it is considered to be a terrorist target. No alcohol allowed in and cell phones have to remain in your pocket or handbag.

The gents waiting.

The third gate to the Taj Mahal. School children lined up.

Closer-up of the gate.

Close-up.

Close-up.

Close-up.

Close-up.

The patio in front of the gate.

Walking through the gate. Our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal!

The Taj Mahal! We went here in the morning as the air pollution is so bad in the afternoon that it would be hard to see it. But I still had trouble taking clear photos of it.

So I darkened my photos and added more contrast.

Using my zoom lens. The Taj Mahal by built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite (third) wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. The Taj Mahal is a masoleum, with both Shah Jahan and his favorite wife buried here.

The Taj Mahal was built with perfect proportions and exquisite craftmanship. Construction of it began about 1632 and was completed about 1653. Emperor Shah Jahan description of the Taj Mahal: "Should guilty seek asylum here, Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin. Should a sinner make his way to this mansion, All his past sins are to be washed away. The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs; And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world this edifice has been made; To display thereby the creator's glory."

Closer-up. It is made from white marble (though it looks now like off-white marble and is due for a cleaning).

Close-up of the entry way.

Another close-up. The Taj Mahal is of late Mughal architecture and combines Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Indian architectural styles.

The Taj Mahal is a complex, with two large buildings of sandstone on either side of it.

The one here is a mosque.

This one probably was a guest house but really was built as the mirror opposite to the mosque to add symmetry.

Walking closer to the Taj Mahal.

Close-up.

I followed the route for high value ticket holders to go into the Taj Mahal.

On my way to find the special entrance. The people are lined up to enter via the general entrance.

The back of the Taj Mahal, where I did not find a special entrance.

View from the back of the Taj Mahal of the Yamuna River.

A Taj Mahal monkey.

Closer-up.

Another view of the Yamuna River.

I guessed that I would have to get into the general line to enter the Taj Mahal.

It was extremely crowded inside. A certain number of people were allowed at a time to walk around the cenotaphs (sarcophagi without bodies inside--the bodies of the Shah Jahan and his wife are buried on a bottome level). I could just make out the centaphs through the screen. No photos allowed in this area. I took this photo from the internet.)

It was so crowded inside that I did not get a good view of the interior. It appeared dull to me but I have no photos to see if that was so--photos on the internet of it look like it was quite decorative. This photo, also taken from the internet, is of the upstairs. I saw no entrance to it, but I could have missed it in the middle of a very large crowd. Lalit told us that soon only those willing to pay $500 will be allowed inside the Taj Mahal.

Taken from the front of the Taj Mahal.

Closer-up.

The classic photo. I found the spot in which to take this photo as I remembered seeing very similar photos to this one. I did not have to fix my photo, so it looks like the air pollution has lessened.

We met back on the side of this gate.

On its side was a very long colonnade.

One of the arches.

At the end of it were the bathrooms--as foreigners, we did not have to pay to use them (2 rupees is about 32 cents US). I took photos of the people visiting the Taj Mahal. See the slideshow http://www.peggysphotos.com/day-7b-agra-taj-mahal/.