Taj Mahal

 
  Taj Mahal one of the ‘7 Wonders of the world’, a magnificent man made Mausoleum has been a very famous tourist destination from centuries. Most of us also know it as the ultimate symbol of love. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan got this astonishing Mausoleum made in the memory of his third wife Arjumand Banu Begam AKA Mumtaz Mahal and made it her final resting place. Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in India, in the city of Agra. The emblematic monument of this country, it is in white marble finely chiseled. It was built between 1631 and 1653 under the command of Shah Jahan in order to shelter the tomb of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth during the delivery of their 14th child. Mumtaz Mahal was also called Arjumand Bano Begum. The Taj Mahal is a marvel of Mughal architecture, at the crossroads of Islamic, Iranian, Persian and Indian styles.

    

  Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal with construction starting in 1632 AD and completed in 1648 AD, with the mosque, the guest house and the main gateway on the south, the outer courtyard and its cloisters were added subsequently and completed in 1653 AD. The existence of several historical and Quaranic inscriptions in Arabic script have facilitated setting the chronology of Taj Mahal. For its construction, masons, stone-cutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from the Central Asia and Iran. Ustad-Ahmad Lahori was the main architect of the Taj Mahal.

   Taj Mahal has been able to pass through history without suffering any particular damage, which makes it possible to admire it nowadays as it was at its construction. If the mausoleum is the best known, it is not necessary to reduce this monument to this marble construction, the Taj Mahal is in fact a set of buildings, gardens, lakes and fountains with perfectly organized symmetry contained in a rectangular ground of 580 by 305 meters. It includes two mosques, one of which is unused because it is not oriented towards Mecca, symmetry obligatory, three Iranian-style gates, three red brick buildings, a central fountain and four bodies of water organized in a cross.

  

   Did you know that Taj Mahal has different colours during different times of the day? Yes, this breathtaking memorial appears in different colours throughout the day. In the morning, the structure is in pink, the daytime sees a white hue of it and when there is moonlight the whole of the structure turns a golden tint. Some people even believe that these shades depict different moods of a woman.


    Every morning the same moving spectacle repeats itself. At first, shy and then forcefully, the Sun's rays illuminate the powerful monument built on the bank of the Yamunâ: The vague silhouette waiting in the gray calm of the night becomes again the glittering jewel of the Indo-Islamic architecture.

 

  The Pillars of Taj Mahal are designed in such a way that the monument is not destroyed by any natural calamity. All the four pillars that protect the structure lean outward.

 One of the interesting facts about Taj Mahal is that four different architectural styles were used to make the magnificent structure. The Persian, Turk, Indian and Islamic styles were the types of architecture that were combined to build the structure.

  Rabindranath Tagore described it as "a teardrop in the cheek of eternity" while Rudyard Kipling said it is "the embodiment of all things pure". The construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1631 and took 17 years before it was completed in 1648! The tomb is laid out in a rectangular shape and can be approached through a massive gateway which has an arch and alcoves on either side of it. The Taj, so majestic from the exterior, has equally splendid artistic work done in the interiors. There are water channels and fountains in the entrance which makes the monument even more spectacular.