Taj Mahal in Agra India is the priceless monument of love built by an Indian King in the memory of his beloved wife.
Taj - the Priceless Monument of Love
Built by Shahjahan in the memory of his beloved mistress Mumtaz Mahal, the beauty in white marble stands on the banks of the river Yamuna in Agra. The symbol of eternal love - Taj Mahal at Agra India beckons largest number of tourists from all the corners of the globe, making it one of the very few most visited & photographed monuments in the world.
Taj Mahal, the beauty moulded in white marble is the most captivating site in India and is the most precious jewel on the tourist map of India.
At various time of the day Taj carries different hues, demonstrating its many moods. But many people say, that Taj is best viewed on a full moon night.
During its construction, Taj was bejeweled with various precious and semi precious stones, most of which no more exists. Even then, Taj Mahal is the most beautiful and most appealing monument in the world, for being the most priced and largest mausoleum built by a man for his undying love on earth.
Where is this White Beauty?
The historical city, Agra prides in housing this most precious monument of Love. This is the reason, that Agra is also known as the city of Taj. Oe of the most developed cities in India since the Mughal Period, Agra was the capital of the Mughal Empire during the 17th century. Today, Agra has wide array of industrial sectors, apart from its historical wonders.
The History Behind the White Marvel
The credit of the construction of this marble wonder goes to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who erected this mausoleum in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in AD 1630.
Mumtaz's last wish to her husband was "to build a tomb in her memory such as the world had never seen before". Thus emperor Shah Jahan set about building this fairy tale like marvel in 1631 AD one year after her death.
Built By : Shahjahan, the Vth Mughal emperor in India
Built Of : White Marble
Built in : (1631 - 1652 AD)
Age : 350 year (in 2005, though its origin is a controversy, some Historians say it is much older than that)
Architect : Ustad Ahmad Lahauri
Calligrapher : Amanat Khan Shirazi
Verses on the Tomb was Designed by : Poet Ghiyasuddin
Dome Maker : Ismail Khan Afridi of Turkey
Superintendent of Masons : Muhammad Hanif
Dome Height : 187ft at the centre
The Taj Architecture
The entire mausoleum is build in white marble. In all 28 kind of rare, semi precious and precious stones were used for inlay work in the Taj Mahal.
» The Chief Building Material : White marble brought from the quarries of Makrana, in distt. Nagaur, Rajasthan.
» Sandstone Brought From : Fatehpur Sikri
» Jasper from : Punjab
» Jade & Crystal From : China
» Turquoise from : Tibet
» Lapis Lazuli & Sapphire from : Sri Lanka
» Coal & Comelian from : Arabia
» Diamonds from : Panna
The Taj Mahal stands on a plinth amidst sprawling gardens in Persian Charbagh (four garden) style, which promotes its beauty. The entire area of the Taj complex is 580 m (1,902 ft) by300 m (984 ft), while the garden alone spans to an area of 300 m (984 ft) by 300 m (984 ft).
The well laid out garden has canals and different waterworks. The dramatic watercourse neatly divides the garden into four equal parts and enhances the immaculate symmetry of the entire complex. The image of Taj reflecting on the canals and waterworks within the Charbagh adds to the beauty of the Taj. Trees, mostly cypress (Cuprussus) (signifying death) or different fruit bearing trees (signifying life) were carefully planted in the 64 flowerbeds in accordance with the symmetry of the total plan. The network of water channels in the garden used to be full of colourful fish of various species.
How to Reach Taj Mahal?
Agra, the city housing the Taj is well connected to rest of India by all the means of transport - air, rail & road. Indian Airlines (Domestic Airline in India) runs daily flights from Delhi to Agra. Kheria Airport (Airport of Agra) is about 6 km from the Agra city centre and is easily accessible by taxis and auto-rickshaws at nominal rates.
Agra has three Railway Stations : Agra Cantt Rly Station, Raja-ki-Mundi Rly Station, Agra Fort Rly Station, which are connected to several parts of the country. There are several excellent train services to Delhi such as The Shatabdi Express (2 hrs), Taj Express (2.5 hrs), Intercity Express (3 hrs).
Express bus services, both AC and non-AC are available from Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Gwalior, and Jhansi.
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