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Taj Mahal one of the strongest contenders in the
race of Modern World Wonders, is one of the most beautiful
architectural creations that have been praised by
millions of art lovers from all over the world and
for more than three centuries. Those who believe in
love, and wish to see love and madness of someone
for his lover, should definitely visit Taj Mahal at
least once.
Taj Mahal is a symbol of eternal affection and stands
for the pious love even after the death of the two
lovers who loved each other more than the almighty
GOD. Taj Mahal has been an inspiration for those who
are true lover of art, human emotions, also for painters,
poets, writers and musicians who try to express human
emotions in form of paintings, words, poetries and
songs.
The beautiful structure was built in the city of
Agra, in state of Uttar Pradesh. The colossal architecture
is situated on the banks of the Yamuna River and has
a huge ground on its back side which gives a beautiful
starry background to it. Taj Mahal was build in memory
of the beautiful wife of Mughal Prince, her name was
Arjuman Bano Begum. The prince Khurram (who was third
son of Mughal Emperor Jahangir) and his wife loved
each other so much that they never stayed away from
each other, even when the prince went on for wars,
they lived together.
The prince on becoming king after some years; changed
his name and was called "Shahjahan" which
means 'Ruler/King of the whole World'. Shahjanan then
honored his wife Arjuman Bano with name 'Mumtaj Mahal'.
The king and queen continued loving each other the
way they did, and the queen accompanied king Shahjahan
in every campaign he set for, even when she was pregnant.
Around year 1931 when Mumtaj Mahal was pregnant, she
accompanied the king when he started his campaign
to win the southern states of India. Mumtaj Mahal,
who gave birth to about fourteen children (of which
only four male and three female children survived),
died during childbirth at Burhanpur, at the age of
39 years.
Some stories say that the devastated king was so sad
that he had imprisoned himself in a room in remembrance
of his lovely wife. Some stories also state that the
Shahajahan had banned music, feasts and any kind of
party for about two years in his regime. No matter how
hard he tried, but Shahjahan could never forget his
wife and he decided to build a monument in the remembrance
of his beloved wife. He wanted to build a huge, beautiful
monument, entirely made up of marble which will be only
one of its types in whole world.
Shahajahan chose a garden on the banks of the Yamuna
River to build the structure. The reason of choosing
this spot was that, there was no other structure which
could overshadow the beauty and uniqueness of the
structure he wanted to build. This was not the only
reason why the spot was chosen for the monument, but
the place was well visible from the king Shahajahan's
palace in Fort of Agra. Shahajahan gifted with four
huge havelis against the garden he wanted to build
the monument in, with the king of Amber who owned
the garden.
The construction of the monument began in 1633. The
monument was so huge that about 20,000 workers worked
for more than 17 years to build it. The King had brought
skilled workers from all over India and some neighboring
countries also such as Baghdad, Turkey etc. A renowned
architect Ustaad Ahmed Lahori was the chief architect
for this project; he was accompanied by the counterparts
who were from Delhi an Baghdad. Every outline, every
look of the structure were discussed in details, many
trials were carried out in order to find out the appropriate
choice for every possible artwork. Various beautiful
parts of the Taj Majal were specially ordered from
various countries.
The main dome of Taj Mahal measures about 110 yards
in circumference and is about 107 yards above the
ground. The base on which the Taj Mahal is resting
is called Mahajar-e-Mushababbak, which was specially
designed from Turkish designers. It is said that the
tombs of Humayun and Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana (Delhi)
inspired the design and structure of the monument
Taj Mahal at certain extent. The cost of building
such a huge architectural structure was about 50 lakhs
in those days.
There are many minute details which are not at all
possible to explain in words such as beautiful calligraphy
used on the marble stones, marvelous work of artists
who carved the marble stone in various designs etc.
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