The Taj Mahal is one of India’s most famous tourist attractions, and with good reason.  It rivals the Egyptian pyramids for the title of the largest and most elaborate tomb ever built!

The story of the Taj Mahal is also a love story. The building was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his third and favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.  According to Wikipedia, the Emperor renamed his wife “Mumtaz Mahal” after their marriage-the name means “jewel of the palace.”

When she died giving birth to their 14th child, the emperor was inconsolable, and ordered the Taj Mahal built as a tomb.  The immense white marble building with its familiar onion-shaped dome is unforgettable, and its grandeur assures that the love story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal lives on even today.

If you want to visit the Taj Mahal, you will need an Indian tourist visa.  Here’s what you need to apply:

• A valid US passport

• 2 identical passport photos

• A completed Indian visa application form. India is strict about the form-your writing must be legible and there must not be any typos. Also, when you fill out the form, if you are traveling to India as a tourist you must write “tourism” on the form where it asks you the purpose of your visit. If you write  anything else (for example, “to visit family” or “to see the Taj Mahal),” the form will be declined.

• A copy of your itinerary or round trip plane tickets.

• India’s visa system is “jurisdictional,” which means that you have to submit your Indian visa application to the right consulate, based on your home address. So, you’ll need a clear copy of your driver’s license or a utility bill for proof of residence.

A private visa expediting company like RushMyTravelVisa.com makes it easy to get a visa to go to India.  You’ll get help with the paperwork and a handy checklist that tells you exactly what you need to apply. Then, we’ll forward your application to the appropriate consulate for you.

Apply for your Indian visa today!

Tags: India, Indian visa, tourist visa

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 8:55 pm and is filed under Visa Processing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.