Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is the most extravagant monument built as a symbol of eternal enduring love.
Standing on the banks of the Yamuna, the Taj, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, overlooks the Agra Fort. Taj Mahal, India is a mausoleum known as a finest example of enchanting architecture and aesthetic beauty. Completed in 1653, it was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal. If one wants to capture the beauty of the Taj, the epitome of love, one should visit it at dawn or dusk. The glittering Taj in the moonlit night entices the viewers.
Taj Mahal, Agra was completed in 22 years employed twenty thousand workers and was designed by the Iranian architect Ustad Isa. Revered for its grace and detailed beauty, the Taj Mahal is considered to be the zenith of Indo-Persian architecture and the elaborate marble designs are inlaid with semi-precious stones such as jade, crystal, turquoise and coral. The Taj stands on the octagonal foundation of red sandstone crowned by a terrace made of white marble. The marble terrace cradles the dome, which houses the cenotaph of Shah Jahan’s beloved wife Mumtaz Banu Begum.
The grave of Mumtaz Mahal is located at the lower chamber, while the grave of Shah Jahan was added to it later. Four minarets rising to a height of 162.5 feet surround the 213 feet high central dome. The architectural intelligence lies in tilting the four towers of the Taj Mahal at a 2-degree angle. In the face of any natural calamity like earthquake the minarets surrounding the dome would not fall and destroy the dome but would fall away from it.
If you ever plan Agra travel India we strongly recommend you for Taj travel. Visit Taj Mahal, Agra-India, the epitome of love, to make yourIndia tour complete. Just by clicking on the relevant links in the hotel review section, the tourist who would like to visit India can get detailed list of car rental companies and affordable accommodations like list of luxurious and budget hotels.
The beauty and elegance of the Taj cannot be expressed in words alone. Although the corpses of Shah Jahan and his better half lie silent, the Taj speaks loud and clears of their immortal love story.
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Taj Mahal is a monument located in Agra, India. It was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the son of Jahangir, as a mausoleum for his Persian wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, also known as Mumtaz-ul-Zamani or Mumtaz Mahal. It took 23 years to complete (1630 – 1653) and is a masterpiece of Mughal architecture.
The architectural complex of the Taj Mahal covers an area of approximately 580 m × 300 m, comprised of five main components: the darwaza (gateway), the bageecha (garden) which is in the form of the typical Mughal charbagh (garden divided into four parts), the masjid (mosque), the mehmaan khana (guest house), and finally the mausoleum of Taj Mahal, at the northern end of the complex.
Taj Mahal History:
For centuries, the Taj Mahal has aggressive poets, painters and musicians to try and abduction its ambiguous abracadabra in word, colour and song. It is one of the best absolute architectural creations of the world. Since the 17th century, travellers accept beyond continents to appear and see this ultimate canonizing to love, and few accept been blah by its incomparable beauty.
Taj Mahal stands in the burghal of Agra, in the arctic Indian accompaniment of Uttar Pradesh, on the banks of the Yamuna River. It was congenital in the anamnesis of the admirable Arjumand Bano Begum, who won the affection of a Mughal prince. She was affiliated at 21 to Emperor Jahangir’s third son Prince Khurram and backward absolutely by his ancillary through acceptable times and bad: in the comfortable aristocratic palaces of Agra as able-bodied as the brief tents of war camps.
In AD 1628, Khurram became baron afterwards a blood-soaked action of succession: he took the name Shahjahan or “King of the World” and showered his admired begum with the accomplished titles. She became Mumtaz Mahal, the astral of the alcazar and Mumtaz-ul-Zamani, the astral of the Age. But Mumtaz Mahal was not destined to be queen for long.
In 1631, Shahjahan went on an campaign to the south and, as always, Mumtaz Mahal accompanied him. But she died in accouchement at Burhanpur. She had borne Shahjahan fourteen children, of whom four sons and three daughters survived. When Mumtaz Mahal died, she was aloof 39 years old. Shahjahan was comfortless and abreast chronicles acquaint of the aristocratic cloister aching for two years. there was no music, no feasting, and no anniversary of any kind.
Epitome Of Adulation -Taj Mahal:
Shahjahan, who was a amorous builder, now absitively to arrect a canonizing to his queen in aboriginal marble that the apple would never forget. The armpit called for the tomb was a garden by the Yamuna river, unshadowed by any added structure. The garden had been laid by Raja Man Singh of Amber and now belonged to his grndson, Raja Jai Singh. By a aristocratic firman, Shahjahan gave Jai Singh four havelis in barter for the garden. The armpit was additionally called because it was amid on a angle in the river, and so could be apparent from Shahjahan’s claimed alcazar in Agra Fort, added upstream.
Construction Of The Catacomb – Taj Mahal:
Work on the catacomb began in 1633 and 20,000 workers laboured for 17 years to body it. The best accomplished architects, applique craftsmen, calligraphers, stone-carvers and masons came from all beyond Indian and acreage as abroad as Persia and Turkey. The adept architect was from Baghdab, an able in architecture the bifold arch from Persia, and an applique specialist from Delhi.
Yemen beatific agates, the corals came from Arabia, the garnets from Bundelkhand, atramentous and amethyst from Persia. Mumtaz Mahal’s final resting-place was bizarre like a queen’s jewel-box.
LOVE they say, knows no boundaries. The Taj Mahal is a classic example of this. Built by the Mughal EmperorShahjahan, for his beloved wife Mumtaz, Taj Mahal monument which was built on the riverbank of Yamuna in the city of Agra stands testimony of the fact that Shahjahan was indeed madly in love with his wife and he wanted to build a monument which will always go down in history as the ultimate tribute of pure, pristine and virtuous love. It is said that after completion of the monument Taj Mahal, Shahjahan ordered that the right hand of the mason be cut, so that the masterpiece could never be recreated.
Mankind can never ever recreate or build the finest example of architectural beauty (Taj Mahal) which Shahjahan built centuries ago with all the modern technology and equipment available now. The Taj Mahal is the finest example of Mughal architecture in its classic beauty and splendor which combines styles from the Persian, Islamic, Indian and Turkish elements. The Taj, a masterpiece recreated by Shahjahan, and which is now a Heritage Site declared by the UNESCO is a monument which makes Indians extremely proud to be a part of this wonderful creation and which has definitely put India in the league of most visited tourist place. The chief designer of Taj Mahal was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.
ORIGIN AND ARCHITECTURE TAJ MAHAL
The Taj Mahal was completed in 1648. White marble was used to build the entire structure which was inlaid with semi-precious stones.
CONSTRUCTION Of TAJ MAHAL
It is said that the plinth and tomb took 12 years to complete and all the exterior decoration like garden, entrance, walls etc took another 10 years to complete. The cost of the construction was estimated to be around 32 million rupees. The materials were transport by 1000 elephants. The precious and semi-precious stoneswhich were inlaid into the marble were brought from different parts of the country. The labor force was called in from Northern India while the creative unit was called from Persia, Baluchistan, Syria.
SURROUNDINGS Of TAJ MAHAL
A huge Mughal garden called charbagh surrounds the complex which has sunken flowerbeds and a reflecting pool in the centre which reflects the image of the Taj Mahal.
EXTERIOR DECORATION Of TAJ MAHAL
The marble dome which is mounted on the tomb is of the same height as that of the base of the building. The top of the dome has a lotus design on it. The four sides have chattris in the corners. The chhatris which open through the roof provide light to the interiors.. The gilded spire is made of bronze which is crowned at the main dome. The finial has a moon whose horns are pointed upwards so it resembles a typical Islamic motif and also resembles the Hindu symbol of Shiva. Thus the filial is an example of integration of Persian and Hindu elements. The entire structure is very symmetrical. There is also a place for the muezzin to call the prayers. The work found on the tomb is very detailed and delicate. The calligraphy used in Taj Mahal structure is made by jasper inlaid in white marble. Passages from the Quran are used throughout the complex. Abstract forms and vegetative motifs are found on the walls, plinths, gateways
INTERIOR DECORATION Of TAJ MAHAL
The inner chambers of Taj Mahal are designed with precious and semiprecious gemstones. There are four central upper arches and each window of the balcony is intricately carved with jali cut from marble.
THE TOMB (TAJ MAHAL )
The white marble tomb (Taj Mahal) stands on a square plinth consisting of a symmetrical building with an iwan. The base structure is a cube with chamfered edges and is multi-chambered. On the sides of Taj Mahal a pishtaq frames the iwan with arch-shaped balcony. Four minarets at each corner frame the tomb. The main chamber of Taj Mahal has the cenotaphs of Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal while their graves are on the lower level. The beauty of the monument can be viewed in its entire splendor on a full moon night when it looks like pearl. The white marble assumes different tints and tones throughout the day like it is pearly pink at dawn.
GRAVES OF MUMTAZ AND SHAHJAHAN In TAJ MAHAL
The graves of Mumtaz and Shahjahan in Taj Mahal are placed facing the Mecca. Both their caskets have calligraphic inscriptions which identify and praise them. Shahjahan’s grave has a small pen box inscribed on it with a writing tablet which differentiates the two graves.
HISTORY Of TAJ MAHAL
It is said that as soon as Taj Mahal was constructed, his son Aurangzeb imprisoned him and he spent his last years gazing at it from the Agra fort where he was kept. After his death Auranzeb buried him next to Mumtaz Mahal.
TAJ MAHAL TOURISM
Taj Mahal is one of the most important tourist sites of India which attracts around 2lac foreigners yearly. The Taj Mahal featured in the old Seven Wonders of the World and it also features in the new Seven Wonders after it got votes from all over the world. It was a great moment of pride and glory for all the Indians as it is symbol of passion and epitomizes love which Indians have always associated themselves with.
The most beautiful building in the world. In 1631 the emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife Mumtaz, who died in childbirth. The white marble mausoleum at Agra has become the monument of a man’s love for a woman.
Shah Jahan came to power in 1622 when he seized the throne from his father, while murdering his brothers to ensure his claim to rule. He was known as an extravagant and cruel leader. But he redeemed himself by his generosity to his friends and the poor, by his passion in adorning India with some of its most beautiful architecture, and by his devotion to his wife Mumtaz Mahal – “Ornament of the Palace.” He had married her when he was 21, when he already had two children by an earlier consort. Mumtaz gave her husband 14 children in eighteen years, and died at the age of 39 during the birth of the final child. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a monument to her memory and her fertility, but then relapsed into a life of scandalous behavior. This tomb was only one of hundreds of beautiful buildings that Shah Jahan erected, mostly at Agra and in the new Dehli that came into being under his planning.
Many architects have rated it as the most perfect of all buildings standing on earth. Three artists designed it: a Persian, an Italian, and a Frenchman. But the design is completely Mohammedan. Even the skilled artisans who built it were brought in from Baghdad, Constantinople, and other centers of the Muslim faith. For 22 years more than 20,000 workmen were forced to build the Taj. The Maharaja of Jaipur sent the marble as a gift to Shah Jahan. The building and its surroundings cost more than $200,000,000 in todays currency.
Passing through a high wall, one comes suddently upon the Taj – raised upon a marble platform, and framed on either side by handsome mosques and stately minarets. In the foreground spacious gardens enclose a pool in whose waters the inverted palace becomes a quivering dream. Every portion of the structure is of white marble, precious metals, or costly stones. The building is a complex figure of twelve sides, four of which are portals. A slender minaret rises at each corner, and the roof is a massive spired dome. The main entrance, once guarded with solid silver gates, is a maze of marble embroidery; inlaid in the wall in jeweled script are qotations from the Koran, one of which invites the “pure in heart” to enter “the gardens of Paradise.”
Shah Jahan had begun his reign by killing his brothers; but he had neglected to kill his sons, one of whom was destined to overthrow him. In 1657 his son Aurangzeb led an insurrection from the Deccan. Aurangzeb defeated all the forces sent against him, captured his father, and imprisoned him in the Fort of Agra. For 9 bitter years the deposed emperor lingered there, never visited by his son, attended only by his faithful daughter Jahanara, and spending his days looking from the Jasmine Tower of his prison across the Jumna to where his once-beloved Mumtaz lay in her jeweled tomb.
The new emperor Aurangzeb was a more pious Muslim than his father Shah Jahan had been. He memorized the entire Koran, spent days in fasts, and campaigned against infidelity. He cared little for luxuries, but, paradoxically, gave the world one of its most perfect works of art: a marble screen inside the Taj Mahal. Native and European thieves robbed the tomb of its abundant jewels, and of the gold railing, encrusted with precious stones, that once enclosed the sarcophagi of Shah Jahan and his Queen. Aurangzeb replaced the railing with an octagonal screen of almost transparent marble, carved into a miracle of alabaster lace. Few products of human art have ever surpassed the beauty of this screen.
From afar the Taj Mahal, with its delicate details, is not imposing. Only a nearer view reveals that its perfection has no proportion to its size. When in our hurried times, we see enormous structures of a hundred stories raised in a year, and then consider how 20,000 men worked for 22 years on this little tomb, hardly a hundred feet high, we begin to sense the difference between industry and art. And perhaps more importantly, we sense the ultimate lesson it offers: beauty and that which lasts, is based on love.