Word: taj
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...lucky enough to get a room with a view, you'll see it right away. A shimmering monument of white, it floats above the shabby city of Agra. From afar, the Taj Mahal is as beautiful as the poets promise--a glowing tribute to obsessive adoration and a symbol of India around the world. But up close, the picture begins to crumble. Acid rain and condensation from the former Mughal capital's coke-fueled factories and, environmentalists say, a nearby oil refinery are eating away the marble and turning what remains the color of unloved teeth. The famous canals...
...that India hasn't tried to take care of the Taj Mahal. Several state environmental lawsuits have demanded action. Polluting foundries and factories have been closed down on the orders of the country's Supreme Court. But the Archaeological Survey of India, the agency responsible for the conservation of the historical site, has neither the funds nor the know-how to carry out its duties...
...lucky enough to get a room with a view, you'll see it right away. A shimmering monument of white, it floats above the shabby city of Agra. From afar, the Taj Mahal is as beautiful as the poets promise?a glowing tribute to obsessive adoration and a symbol of India around the world. But up close the picture begins to crumble. Acid rain and condensation from the former Mughal capital's coke-fueled factories and, environmentalists say, a nearby oil refinery are eating away the marble and turning what remains the color of unloved teeth. The famous canals...
...norm. The drivers are rude, the hiring and negotiating shambolic. Flies swarm the animals and the dung they liberally scatter across the potholed roads. When you reach the entrance to the mausoleum that Emperor Shah Jahan built for his second wife, Queen Mumtaz Mahal, hawkers touting miniature Taj Mahals, bottled water and postcards, add to the chaos. You may shake them off, but you won't escape being stung at the ticket counter. Foreigners are expected to pay $20 rather than the 40 fee for Indians. Slouching by the gates, bored-looking policemen and Archaeological Survey of India officials occasionally...
...that India hasn't tried to take care of the Taj Mahal. Several state environmental lawsuits have demanded action. Polluting foundries and factories have been closed down on Supreme Court orders. But the Archaeological Survey, the agency responsible for the building's conservation, has neither the funds nor the know-how to carry out its duties. On June 21, however, for the first time in decades, a faint beacon of hope pierced the choking fumes: the Tata Group's hotel chain took on the great landmark's preservation. The company has previously converted former palaces into functioning hotels, and promises...