Facts About Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal the epitome of love continuous to shine and attract people from all over the world.The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal of Agra is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, for reasons more than just looking magnificent.
 

Shah Jahan, son of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir and grandson of Akbar the Great 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) 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.It is 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.

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.
 

Some Interesting Facts About Taj Mahal

1: The Taj Mahal appears pink in the morning, white in the day and
changes its color to golden in the moon light.

2: The pillars surrounding Taj Mahal are slightly tilted outwards so that in
the event of an earthquake they will fall away from the tomb.

3: An identical Taj Mahal was supposed to be built in black marble
instead of white. The base of ...it can still be seen across the river.

4: Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials during
the construction of the Taj Mahal.

5: 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the
white marble that was used to construct this magnificent work of architecture.

6: The Taj Mahal is perfectly symmetrical in every way, except for one
thing--the two tombs inside are not equal in size. This is because the male tomb
had to be larger than the female tomb.

7: The Taj Mahal cost about Rs. 32 million, which in today's money
would probably exceed $1 billion!

8: It took 22 years and 22,000 people to build this structure.

9: Emperor Shah Jahan ordered that every worker's hands be chopped
off immediately after construction, so that no one could ever recreate the Taj
Mahal.

10: Despite being the creation of a Moghul king, the architecture of Taj
Mahal was globally inspired. It's a fusion of Persian, Central Asian and Islamic
architecture in India.