India - Taj Mahal
Before traveling to India I knew that the Taj Mahal was beautiful and was one of the wonders of the world but understood very little about the amazing history of the Taj Mahal. We had an excellent guide at the Taj who shared the history and timeless love story with us.
Taj Mahal means "Crown Palace" and is in fact the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world. It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess.
Shah Jahan, initially named Prince Khurram, was born in the year 1592. He was the son of Jehangir, the fourth Mughal emperor of India and the grandson of Akbar the Great. In 1607 when strolling down the Meena Bazaar, accompanied by a string of fawning courtiers, Shah Jahan caught a glimpse of a girl hawking silk and glass beads. It was love at first sight and the girl was Mumtaz Mahal, who was known as Arjumand Banu Begum at that time. At that time, he was 14 years old and she, a Muslim Persian princess, was 15. After meeting her, Shah Jahan went back to his father and declared that he wanted to marry her. The match got solemnized after five years (1612).
Inside the Taj - we had to wear shoe bootie covers - the detailed inlaid marble with precious stones and gems was truly awe inspiring. Pictures don't really capture everything but even so I couldn't stop myself from taking hundreds of photos!
The Taj changes color with the sun. It the middle of the day it is bright white but in the evening as the sun sets it glows yellow.
Everything in the Taj is symmetrical which is incredibly impressive considering this was all done by hand.
The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.
We arrived at the Taj in the afternoon and ended up staying till the sun set which was so beautiful! I was much more impressed with the Taj Mahal then I ever expected to be. In the picture above you can see the the four minarets surrounding the Taj all tilt slightly outwards. This was done as a precaution in case of an earthquake the minarets would fall away from the Taj not into it. Amazing foresight so many years ago.
Taj Mahal means "Crown Palace" and is in fact the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world. It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess.
Shah Jahan, initially named Prince Khurram, was born in the year 1592. He was the son of Jehangir, the fourth Mughal emperor of India and the grandson of Akbar the Great. In 1607 when strolling down the Meena Bazaar, accompanied by a string of fawning courtiers, Shah Jahan caught a glimpse of a girl hawking silk and glass beads. It was love at first sight and the girl was Mumtaz Mahal, who was known as Arjumand Banu Begum at that time. At that time, he was 14 years old and she, a Muslim Persian princess, was 15. After meeting her, Shah Jahan went back to his father and declared that he wanted to marry her. The match got solemnized after five years (1612).
It was in the year 1628 that Shah Jahan became the Emperor and entrusted Arjumand Banu with the royal seal. He also bestowed her with the title of Mumtaz Mahal, meaning the “Jewel of the Palace”. Shah Jahan had other wives but, Mumtaz Mahal was his favorite and accompanied him everywhere, even on military campaigns. In the year 1631, She died while accompanying her husband in Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion after giving birth to their 14th child. The death so crushed the emperor that all his hair and beard were said to have grown snow white in a few months.
Construction of the Taj began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty two thousand people were deployed to work on it. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site.
It is said that Shah Jahan was so heartbroken after her death that he ordered the court into mourning for two years. When Shah Jahan died in 1666, his body was placed in a tomb next to the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal.
The Taj rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a huge white marble terrace on which rests the famous dome flanked by four tapering minarets. Within the dome lies the jewel-inlaid cenotaph of the queen. So exquisite is the workmanship that the Taj has been described as "having been designed by giants and finished by jewellers". The only asymmetrical object in the Taj is the casket of the emperor which was built beside the queen’s as an afterthought. The emperor was deposed by his son and imprisoned in the Great Red Fort for eight years but was buried in the Taj. During his imprisonment, he had a view of the Taj. 
Click below
The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.
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Travel Adventures
nice photo and description.. good work ,,, tnx for your post.