The Taj Mahal of Agra is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, for reasons more than just looking magnificent. It's the history of Taj Mahal that adds a soul to its magnificence: a soul that is filled with love, loss, remorse, and love again. Because if it was not for love, the world would have been robbed of a fine example upon which people base their relationships. An example of how deeply a man loved his wife, that even after she remained but a memory, he made sure that this memory would never fade away. This man was the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who was head-over-heels in love with Mumtaz Mahal, his dear wife. She was a Muslim Persian princess (her name Arjumand Banu Begum before marriage) and he was the son of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir and grandson of Akbar the Great. It was at the age of 14 that he met Mumtaz and fell in love with her. Five years later in the year 1612, they got married.
Year of Construction: 1631
Completed In: 1653
Time Taken: 22 years
Built By: Shah Jahan
Dedicated to: Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Bano Begum), the wife of Shah Jahan
Location: Agra (Uttar Pradesh), India
Building Type: Islamic tomb
Architecture: Mughal (Combination of Persian, Islamic and Indian architecture style)
Architect: Ustad Ahmad Lahauri
Cost of Construction: 32 crore rupees
Number of workers: 20,000
Highlights: One of the Seven Wonders of the World; A UNESCO World Heritage Site
Timings: Sunrise to Sunset (Friday closed)
Mumtaz Mahal, an inseparable companion of Shah Jahan, died in 1631, while giving birth to their 14th child. It was in the memory of his beloved wife that Shah Jahan built a magnificent monument as a tribute to her, which we today know as the "Taj Mahal". The construction of Taj Mahal started in the year 1631. Masons, stonecutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome-builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from Central Asia and Iran, and it took approximately 22 years to build what we see today. An epitome of love, it made use of the services of 22,000 laborers and 1,000 elephants. The monument was built entirely out of white marble, which was brought in from all over India and central Asia. After an expenditure of approximately 32 million rupees (approx US $68000), Taj Mahal was finally completed in the year 1653.
It was soon after the completion of Taj Mahal that Shah Jahan was deposed by his own son Aurangzeb and was put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Shah Jahan, himself also, lies entombed in this mausoleum along with his wife. Moving further down the history, it was at the end of the 19th century that British Viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908, as a measure to restore what was lost during the Indian rebellion of 1857: Taj being blemished by British soldiers and government officials who also deprived the monument of its immaculate beauty by chiseling out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. Also, the British style lawns that we see today adding on to the beauty of Taj were remodeled around the same time. Despite prevailing controversies, past and present threats from Indo-Pak war and environmental pollution, this epitome of love continuous to shine and attract people from all over the world.
Uttar Pradesh, India (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश), often referred to as U.P., is a state located in the northern part of India. With an area of 93,933 sq mi (243,290 km2), Uttar Pradesh covers a large part of the highly fertile and densely populated upper Gangetic plain. It shares an international border with Nepal to the north with Kushinagar where Buddha died, along with the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh to the north-west, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan on the west, Madhya Pradesh on the south, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand on the south east and Bihar on the east. The administrative and legislative capital of Uttar Pradesh is Lucknow and the financial and industrial capital is Kanpur. It is home to many historical cities, including Allahabad, Varanasi,Sarnath,Agra, Mathura and Ayodhya. Kanpur is its largest city; other big cities are Gorakhpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Bareilly, Ghaziabad and Noida.
The history of Ancient India is an all important chapter, in this passage to India. No India Taj Mahal travel, would be complete without a visit to Agra India, to witness the historical monument of love..Taj Mahal India!
Uttar Pradesh celebrates, the heart in all human relationships, which the India people enjoy. A center for India religion, it gives you a spiritual taste of India, with all the festivals n fairs, which can make your travel to Taj Mahal India, memorable.
As the birthplace of Lord Rama in Ayodhya..Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna..Sarnath, where Buddha after Enlightenment gave his first sermon and his 'nirwana' at Kushinagar, bordering the Himalayan Hindu kingdom of Nepal..it is a much celebrated state in Asia. With its ancient Holy tradition of 'ganga arti' at Varanasi and the Nawabi Avadh culture of Lucknow, it has captured the Bollywood Industry's cinematic eye of Bombay. Today, an India art, India food and India music extravaganza, it is an important stopover in your travel to India.
The most celebrated festivals of Uttar Pradesh, India are 'Basant Panchami', 'Holi'(A Vibrant splash of Colors n Community in Feb-March), Eid with the holy full moon, 'Janamashtmi'(Birthday of Lord Krishna in Aug/Sep)) and 'Ravi Das' Jayanti and Christmas ! In Mathura, your India tour can experience the most beautiful photos of India, where the globe dances to the tune of Child Krishna's divine flute.
Taj Mahal's decoration
The Taj is inlaid with black marble and semi precious stones, on both the inside and the outside, while the entire Koran is inscribed on the exterior of the main dome. Thousands upon thousands of flowers constructed in inlaid mosaics of varied stones decorate the floors and interior walls, along with an incredible finely carved screen.
Facts about Taj Mahal :- 👇👇👇👇
The Taj Mahal reigns supreme as one of the most recognisable and iconic images of India. Its delicate minarets, gracefully curved archways and ice cream scoop domes have led many to make the pilgrimage to stand at its entrance and wonder at its grandeur. The wonder isn’t only found in its construction. Here stands a building that is as rich in history as it is in opulent marble. To help better appreciate this history, we have compiled a list of the 10 most interesting facts about Taj Mahal.
- It is estimated to have taken more than 22,000 people to build this impressive building including labourers, painters, stonecutters, embroidery artists, and many others.
- According to legend it is believed that Emperor Shah Jahan had planned to construct another Taj Mahal in black marble on the other side of the river but the war with his sons interrupted his plans.
- The Taj Mahal takes on different colouring at different times of the day, from a pinkish hue in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden at night when lit by the moon. They say the changing colour resembles the changing mood of females - in particular the Emperor's queen.
- Built in memory of the Emperors third and most favourite wife Mumtāz Mahal, the Taj Mahal took 17 years to be completed.
- It is said that the death so crushed the Emperor that all his hair and beard were said to have grown snow white within just a few months.
- The four sides of the Taj Mahal are perfectly identical creating an astonishingly mirrored image on each side. It uses the principles of self-replicating geometry and symmetry of architectural elements.
- The Taj Mahal is surrounded by significant gardens and a number of other buildings including a mosque and guest houses which make up the 17 hectares of land within the complex walls.
- The full height of the Taj Mahal is 171 metres (561 feet).
- More than 1,000 elephants were employed to transport the construction materials used to build the Taj.
- Many precious stones were ripped off from its walls by the British during the Indian rebellion of 1857.
- Before his accession to the throne, Shah Jahan was popularly known as Prince Khurram.
- Shah Jahan fell in love with the beautiful Arjumand Bano Begum and married her, making her his third wife.
- Arjumand Bano Begum was christened by Shah Jahan as Mumtaz Mahal, meaning the “Chosen One Of The Palace” or “Jewel of the Palace”.
- Shah Jahan lost Mumtaz Mahal, when she died giving birth to their 14h child.
- For the transportation of the construction materials, more than 1,000 elephants were employed.
- As many as 28 different varieties of semi-precious and precious stones were used to adorn the Taj with exquisite inlay work.
- Depending on what time of the day it is and whether or not there’s moon at night, Taj Mahal appears to be of different color every time. Some even believe that this changing pattern of colors depict different moods of a woman.
- Passages from Quran have been used as decorative elements throughout the complex.
- On the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, 99 names of Allah can be found as calligraphic inscriptions.
- Taj Mahal was built in stages, with the plinth and the tomb taking up roughly 15 years. Building of minarets, mosque, jawab, and gateway took additional 5 years to be completed.
- Different types of marbles used in construction of Taj Mahal were brought over from many different regions & countries: Rajasthan, Punjab, China, Tibet, Afghanistan, Srilanka, & Arabia.
- Many precious stones and Lapis Lazuli (a semi-precious stone) were ripped off from its walls by the Britishers during the Indian rebellion of 1857.
- Taj Mahal attracts 2-4 million visitors annually with over 200,000 from overseas
