The Symbol of Love: TAJ MAHAL

 INTRODUCTION

Everyone likes to visit the Taj Mahal once in their life and this is so obvious because of its beauty. No one can deny the fact that it is a sign of true art and architecture. But the enjoyment and fun of visiting historical places get manifold when we know some history about the historical place that we are going to visit. So, I will tell you some interesting history of the Taj Mahal.

                                                                                    

HISTORY

• Taj Mahal was built by the Shah Jahan. 
• Shah Jahan had 6 wives and Mumtaz was special among them. It had a purpose because once shah Jahan had a fight with his brothers and she stood by him and that made her special
• But Mumtaz didn't live long and died just after giving the birth of the 14th child of Shah Jahan. So Shah Jahan decided to build something beautiful in the name of his love "Mumtaz".
• Shah Jahan graved the Mumtaz in Taj Mahal.
• Shan Jahan also wanted a mausoleum as Mumtaz but Shah Jahan got ill in 1666. So Aurangzeb (the first child of Mumtaz) put him in the jail of Agra Red Fort. From where Shah Jahan saw the Taj Mahal from a very narrow hole.
• After the death of Shah Jahan, his son Aurangzeb graved him next to the Mumtaz In Taj Mahal.

A Magnificent Piece of Architecture 

No Wonder, It's a Wonder

                                     

CONSTRUCTION

• Taj Mahal's construction was started in 1633 and end in 1643 but construction was continued for a further 10years. So we can say that the Taj Mahal took two decades for its completion.
• Shah Jahan ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal to the head architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri (who built the Red fort) as a sign of his love for his beloved wife Mumtaz.
•  The head architect, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri took the inspiration from the tomb of Timur, the progenitor of the Mughal dynasty in Samarkand. 
• There were 20,000 workers used in the construction of the Taj Mahal and 1000 elephants were used for transportation. 20-30 oxen used to pull carts to deliver the material to the construction site.
• A 15km (9.3mil) tamped earth ramp was built to transport the marble and material to the construction site.
• Taj Mahal covers an area of 17hectares (42 acres). Taj Mahal consists of a garden and a guest house. The formal garden is bounded on 3 sides by a crenelated wall.
• The construction cost of the Taj Mahal was 32 million rupees in 1663 and this cost is equal to today's 70billion rupees or the U.S. $956 million.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• UNESCO designated the Taj Mahal as a World Heritage site in 1983 for being the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.
•  Taj Mahal declared as the winner of the new 7 wonders of the world in 2007
• Taj Mahal attracts 7-8 million visitors in a year which is a quite remarkable score for Taj Mahal.

MYTH ABOUT SHAH JAHAN

We all heard a myth about the shah Jahan that he cut off the hands of the workers who built the Taj Mahal. This is not the complete truth but the complete truth is that Shah Jahan was so happy after seeing the beauty of the Taj Mahal. So he gave enough money to all the workers as they never needed to work in the future for money. So the people said, Shah Jahan cut off the hands of the worker as a phrase and a compliment.

MATERIAL USED

Taj Mahal was constructed from translucent white marble and the marble came from Makrana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jade, and crystal from China. The Turquoise came from Tibet, Lapis Lazuli came from Afghanisthan, Sapphire came from Sri Lanka and Carnelian came from Arabia.

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

• Taj Mahal is the crown of Mughal architecture in India. It is situated on the southern bank of the river Yamuna. It is the unique combination of Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles from 1943 to now. 
• There are five major constituents of the Taj Mahal, namely main gateway, gardens, mosque, rest house, and main mausoleum.
• The main gateway was decorated with the calligraphy of the Holy Quran on it.
• The original door was made of solid silver and the main purpose of it was to prevent the glimpse of the tomb until they are right in the doorway.
• It was bordered with Arabic calligraphy of verses of the Quran.  

LOCATION

Taj Mahal is in Agra and Agra is a city of Uttar Pradesh. In ancient times, Agra was known as Akabrabad.

 Agra is a popular city because of several reasons as-

• Agra was first mentioned in the epic Mahabharata 
•  And later gain recognition as the capital of the Mughal Empire 
• Agra is famous for its majestic gardens, leatherwork, various UNESCO heritage sites, Mughlai food, petha, Wildlife SOS, Kinari Bazar, etc.

CITY- Agra, on the bank of river Yamuna

STATE – Uttar Pradesh

Distance from Delhi – 204km(approx)

VISITING HOUR

TAj mahal opens 30min before sunrise and closes 30 min before sunset during a normal operating day.

Taj Mahal is closed on Friday for general viewing. Other days it is always open.