Showers cool Agra, draw tourists to Taj

Agra, May 10 : Cloudy skies and a light rainfall Sunday brought cheer not only to Agra residents but also saw tourists enjoying the showers at the famed Taj Mahal and other locales of the city.

Sunday morning saw tourists enjoying the rain for almost an hour and it brought down the temperatures to a comfortable level, said Sandeep Arora, a hotelier of Taj Ganj locality.

'More people have turned up to see the Taj on Sunday than has been the case in the past few days because of the rising heat,' Arora said.

A few places also experienced a brief hail storm.

The white marble Taj Mahal, which was coated by a layer of pale yellowish dust from neighbouring Rajasthan, looked fresh after the unexpected wash it received. The green lawns seemed lush and rejuvenated after the showers.

'It's a dream come true... a glimpse of this magnificent monument, sparkling white, against a murky backdrop,' a German tourist said with some help from a guide.

'How long the pleasant weather would last is anybody's guess, but for the moment the crowd at the Taj has certainly been spared the scorching heat,' said Gopal, a seller of bottled mineral water near the monument.

The number of tourists, especially foreigners, visiting the Taj Mahal had dwindled over the last few weeks because of the hot weather. The temperature had gone up to 44.5 degrees Celsius last week.