Taj Mahal - "The Jewel of India"

Taj Mahal - The Jewel of India

          The Taj Mahal is one of the most amazing structures ever made, which is counted as one of the seven wonders of the world. It is situated in the Indian city Agra on the southern banks of river Yamuna. Taj Mahal means "Crown of Palace" got the designation as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1983. The Taj is known for its spellbinding Mughal Architecture combining the Indian, Persian, and Islamic mastery. 

The Taj Mahal

          The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum or tomb which took approximately 21 years to be built from 1632-1653, costing 32million Indian rupees at that time. It is considered as "The Jewel of Muslim art in India" and symbol of India's rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts tourists from all over the world to get once in a lifetime glimpse of the structure which is widely considered as the most beautiful structure of the world. People say The Taj Mahal changes its color throughout the day.

"The Story behind its creation"

          The Taj Mahal was made in the memory of Shah Jahan's  favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan was the Mughal emperor at that time. Mumtaz died giving birth to the 14th child of the couple. In the grief of her death, Shah Jahan commissioned the Taj Mahal in 1631. The construction started in 1632 which took initial 11 years to build the mausoleum only, the rest of the buildings were completed in later 10 years. After the construction completed in 1653, Shan Jahan was put under house arrest in Agra fort by his son Aurangzeb for the thirst to become the Mughal Emperor. Since then Shah Jahan was only able to see his creation through the balcony until he died in 1666. After the death of Shah Jahan, his tomb was buried by his son beside the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal.

"Amazing structure of Taj Mahal"

          The Taj Mahal reflects the Mughal architecture with Indian, Persian and Islamic influences as it was built with the help of over 20,000 workers from all these places, accompanied by around 1,000 elephants. The chief architect of Taj Mahal was Ustad Ahmad Lahouri.

The important buildings of Taj Mahal consist of:

1)Mausoleum: The Mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal was the main focus of Taj Mahal. It is an ivory-white marble structure which stands on a white marble platform over 55 meters. It is surrounded by four minarets. The Taj Mahal is built with 28 different varieties of semi-precious stones. The delicate carvings, the sculpted verses, the combination of Indian, Persian and Islamic mastery makes it the most beautiful structure ever made. The Mausoleum has the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal with the tomb of Shah Jahan. The Mausoleum is flanked by two identical buildings a Mosque and Mihman Khana(Guesthouse).

Taj Mausoleum

2)Mosque: The Mosque is on the west(left when seen from the garden) of Mausoleum. The mosque is made up of red sandstone. It gives religious tone to the building. The floor of the mosque is laid out with 569 prayer rugs in black marble. As a Mosque here also people come for there prayers. On Fridays, the Taj Mahal is only opened in the afternoon to the people for their prayers.

Mosque

3)Mihman Khana: Mihman Khana(Guesthouse) is exactly on the opposite side of Mosque and has exactly the same structure as of the Mosque. It gives more impressive view enhancing the symmetry of the Taj Mahal. It is said that the Mihman Khana was built for the people's accommodation on the death anniversary of Mumtaz.

Mihman Khana

4)Charbagh Garden: In front of the Mausoleum there is a four-square garden named as Charbagh garden. The garden is made of Persian and Islamic mastery. It has water channels at the middle boundaries of the four gardens indicate the rivers of paradise as mentioned in the Holy Quran, Hence it is also known as the garden of paradise.

5)Darwaza-e-Rauza(Great Gate): This is the main gateway of taj which is made up of red sandstone. This is the entrance hall to the Taj complex. It has two beautiful ornamental gates, one opens to the courtyard and the other to the Mausoleum. It has fine inlay work with strong balconies. Outside the Great gate, there is a Jilaukhana which is the forecourt zone.

Great Gate

6)Three entry gates: The Taj Mahal has three gates from which people can enter to get the glimpse of the Taj Mahal.

i)East gate(Sirhi Darwaza): This gate is to the east of Taj Mahal. It has a tomb of Shah Jahan's wife "Sirhindi begum". Due to this, it is known as Sirhi Darwaza.

ii)West gate: This gate is to the west of  Taj Mahal. It has a tomb of Shah Jahan's another wife "Fatehpur begum". The tomb structures beside the east and west gates are known as SaheliBurjj. Also, these gates are accompanied by Khawasspuras which were meant to accommodate tomb attendants.

iii)Southern gate: This gate is to the south of Taj Mahal. This gate faces the bazaars. To the right of this gate, there is a tomb of red stone which is believed to be the tomb of the lady companion of Mumtaz Mahal. Due to this, the gate structure is also known as Tomb of Maid of Honor.

The sitemap of Taj Mahal

"Some interesting facts and myths about Taj Mahal"

1)The four minarets are far and also lean slightly outward for safety, As if any of them falls, it will fall away from the Mausoleum.

2)During British rule, the Charbagh garden was landscaped to look more like the manicured gardens in London. The original garden was adorned with lots of roses and daffodils.

3)It is said that the artists and architects were put to death so that such beautiful structure won't be made ever again. But there is no proof, Historians believe that they were required to sign contracts.

4)Islam doesn't allow decoration of graves, so Shah Jahan and wife Mumtaz Mahal are buried in a plain crypt in the inner chamber of Taj Mahal.

5)Shah Jahan's other wives and his favorite servant are buried in Mausoleums just outside the Taj Mahal.

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