Hans in India: Taj Mahal

FINALLY !!!!!
Since I was a little boy and first saw a picture of this magnificent monument I fell in love with it and made myself the promise to see it in real one day.
After so many years that day has arrived ;-)

At 05hr30 in the morning our guide picked us up and we drove to the starting point from where we could start our visit.
In the past pollution has been turning the Taj Mahal yellow. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up a 10,400 square kilometer (4,015 square mile) area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place, only bikes and electric cars are allowed to drive in that area.
Sadly Kokechi wasn't allowed inside for security reasons (no sharp objects, pens or objects that could contain explosives are allowed inside) so I couldn't take a picture of my sisters' lucky doll together with the Taj Mahal.

But before I show the pictures it's time for some history first :
In 1607 CE (1025 AH), at the age of fifteen, Shah Jahan was to marry Arjumand Banu Begum, the grand daughter of a Persian noble, who was 14 years old at the time. She would become the unquestioned love of his life. They would, however, have to wait five years before they were married in 1612 CE (1021 AH). After their wedding celebrations, Shah Jahan "finding her in appearance and character elect among all the women of the time," gave her the title Mumtaz Mahal (Jewel of the Palace).
Mumtaz Mahal had 14 children. Despite her frequent pregnancies, she travelled with Shah Jahan's entourage throughout his earlier military campaigns and the subsequent rebellion against his father. Mumtaz Mahal was utterly devoted — she was his constant companion and trusted confidante and their relationship was intense. She is portrayed by Shah Jahan's chroniclers as the perfect wife with no aspirations to political power.
The intervening years had seen Shah Jahan take two other wives known as Akbarabadi Mahal (d.1677 CE, 1088 AH), and Kandahari Mahal (b. c1594 CE, c1002 AH), (m.1609 CE, 1018 AH).
According to the official court chronicler Qazwini, the relationship with his other wives "had nothing more than the status of marriage. The intimacy, deep affection, attention and favor which His Majesty had for the Cradle of Excellence [Mumtaz] exceeded by a thousand times what he felt for any other."

Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death.
A labour force of twenty thousand workers was recruited across northern India.
The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later.

Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

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.

Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoluem next to his beloved wife.

So NO, it's not a temple to burn some candles nor should it be damaged for the sake of having a souvenir.
Instead it's a mausoleum, a tomb for a loved one but most of all it's built to show the world how much he loved his wife and how dearly he missed her ( an ultimate sign of love and grief ).
In my humble opinion the most romantic and most beautiful building in the world.
If I should ever decide to ask for a woman's hand in marriage then it'll be here and nowhere else.