An Idiot Abroad | Series 1: The 7 Wonders (2010) | Episode 2: India

Pilkington's next Wonder to visit is the Taj Mahal in India. He rides down the middle of a busy highway in a cycle rickshaw. He is about to stay the night in a shop stall but his hosts place him in an apartment bedroom. He encounters a religious festival known as Holi day, where he is pelted with coloured paint powder. He attends the Kumbh Mela festival where he visits the religious Babas who practice extreme forms of yoga, such as being naked with strange piercings. He tries the lotus position, and visits a Baba who has had his right arm raised for the past twelve years. He meets with the Elephant Baba, who has a deformed face that is in the shape of an elephant on one side, and his assistant who winds his genitals around a walking stick and bounces. He meets an American Hindu acolyte who brings him to a Hindu holy man. He bathes with them in the River Ganges. On his way to Agra he visits a cow sanctuary. He is later stationed in an inn "nearby" the Taj Mahal, but is disappointed by the filthiness of its honeymoon suite. The next morning, he visits the Taj Mahal and also sees the wonder from a small boat.