My local newspaper has a report that today (September 27) India is celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Taj Mahal. According to the report historians cannot agree on the precise date. The celebrations will continue for the next 6 months.

The report mentions that in 1874 British traveller Edward Lear as declaring "Henceforth, let the inhabitants of the world be divided into two classes - them as has seen the Taj Mahal and them as hasn't."

I remember Edward Lear not for his travelling but for his poetry. However, to have seen, not just a picture of the building, but the building itself was certainly one of my travelling highlights. It was in real life just amazing and much much more beautiful than the pictures convey.

I am sure other Ziners have visited too - what did you think?

Browsing the web I came across this site which mentions the celebrations and also the builders. http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/06/int12.htm

When we were in Agra we were offered some lovely things made of marble and inlaid in the same style as the Taj Mahal - for example marble table tops. It didn't fit with the backpacks and I really did not feel up to paying a lot of money, shipping some item home only to find it broken or never arrived. Plus of course we needed our money for travelling. I have an enormous list of souvenirs that I haven't bought. It is not that I regret not buying them, I would make the same decisions now, but I do recall those objects, even as I recall the places I visited. Who needs the souvenir object when one has such memories?

Regards Anne, Canberra, Australia