India, the country, where culture echoes, traditions speak and diversity delights is a land of magnificent monuments and where Taj Mahal, is only one of the historical wonders. Situated in the city of Agra in India, on the banks of the river Yamuna, the Taj is enclosed in a garden amongst fountains and ornamental trees.
Taj Mahal is a monument that depicts one of the most marvelous architectures of the ancient world. It is India’s Pride and it has made it to the Seven Wonders of the World.

Home of Taj Mahal: Agra

Situated in the city of Agra in India, on the banks of the river Yamuna, the Taj is enclosed in a garden amongst fountains and ornamental trees. Agra is situated about 200 km south of New Delhi, was the Capital of the Mughals (Moguls) – the Muslim Emperors who ruled Northern India between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Agra is well connected by air, rail and road. It is an ancient centre of Shiva worship. Agra is globally renowned as the city of the Taj Mahal, a monument of love and imagination that represents India to the world.

Agra was from 1526 to 1658 the capital of the Mughal emperors – the Muslim rulers of India, who left a splendid architectural heritage. It is home to the finest examples of Mughal architecture in India, of which the Taj is simply the most famous.

Taj Mahal: An Epitome of Love

The very first sight of the Taj Mahal, the epitome of love and romance leaves one mesmerized. It is truly a spectacular symbol of love, art and craftsmanship combined.
Shah Jahan was the fourth Mogul emperor of India. He ordered the Taj Mahal built in memory of his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal. She was the second wife of Shah Jahan. Inflated through the ages into an almost impossibly beautiful, virtuous and brave woman, despite a fairly scanty historical record, Mumtaz Mahal accompanied him to war, and bore him 14 children, the last birth killing her at the age of 39.

When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from the emperor – first, that he build the Taj; second, that he should marry again; third, that he be kind to their children; and fourth, that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary.
In 1631, when Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth, Shah Jahan brought to Agra the most skilled craftsmen from all Asia and even Europe, to build the white marble mausoleum that is the Taj Mahal.

Shah Jahan had sought perfect symmetry in the Taj, and placed the tomb of Mumtaz (actually a marble cenotaph; her body is buried below) squarely at the center, forming a perfect sightline out the entrance.

The body of Mumtaz Mahal was ceremoniously interred into the tomb. The name Taj Mahal is derived from her nick-name Mumtaz Mahal: pearl or crown of the palace.

Many people believe that Shah Jahan had planned to build another Taj Mahal in black marble, which was to be his own tomb on the opposite bank of the River Yamuna and connect the two by a bridge.

Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator’s glory.
The Taj Mahal still continues to enamor visitors with its charismatic architecture and narrates the mystical tale of eternal love. It is recognized worldwide as a symbol of eternal love.

Taj Mahal: The Building
Building the mausoleum took 21 years and 20,000 workers. Without doubt, The Taj Mahal ranks as amongst the most perfect buildings in the world, flawlessly proportionate, built entirely out of marble. The building itself is 186 feet square.
The term ‘Mahal’ has never been used for a building in any of the Muslim countries, from Afghanistan to Algeria. Had the Taj been an Islamic building it should have faced the west.
The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials during the construction. The translucent white marble was brought from 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.

The finest of skilled artisans were brought in to inlay the white marble edifice with precious stones and to conjure filigreed marble screens around the cenotaphs of the emperor and his beloved queen. It is believed that the name “Taj Mahal” was derived from the name of Shah Jahan wife Mumtaz Mahal and means “Crown Palace”.

The Taj is a tribute to the beauty of a woman and the enduring and eternal love. The Taj Mahal reveals its subtle beauty when you view it without being in a hurry. The rectangular base symbolizes the different sides from which to view a beautiful woman.
The main gate symbolizes the veil to a woman’s face, which should be lifted delicately, without haste and very gently on the wedding night. It is an aspect of the Indian Tradition, where the veil is lifted gently to reveal the beauty of the bride.

Taj Mahal: The Heritage
The almost supernatural beauty of the Taj Mahal and its grounds transcends culture and history, and speaks with a voice of its own to visitors from all over the world of feelings that are common to all humanity. In 1983, The Taj Mahal was given recognition as a UNESCO World heritage site and hence was universally acknowledged as one of the best heritage sites throughout the world. It is one of the wonders of the world and the supreme example of Mughal architecture in India.

Estimates of the cost of the construction of Taj Mahal vary due to difficulties in estimating construction costs across time. The total cost of construction has been estimated to be about 32 million Rupees at that time which now runs into trillions of Dollars if converted to present currency rates!

The Taj Mahal attracts from 2 to 4 million visitors annually, with more than 200,000 from overseas. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus.

The grounds are open from 6 am to 7 pm weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12 noon and 2 pm. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramzan. For security reasons only five items – water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies’ purses – are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.

Taj Mahal: The Magnificent Architecture

The Taj Mahal is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. It incorporates and expands on many design traditions, particularly Hindu, Persian and earlier Mughal architecture.

Although Islamic architecture is difficult to define collectively, the Taj Mahal seems to represent its essence and strongest characteristic — the ability of the Islamic religion and its leaders to exploit into foreign regions and mould the best features of that place with its own to create unique works of architecture.
In a country that may be one of the most intriguing travel destinations on the planet, the Taj Mahal is the one site no tourist visiting India can miss. The Taj Mahal is truly a spectacular symbol of love, art and craftsmanship combined.