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Taj Mahal - A
Shrine of Love
Let
the splendor of the diamond, pearl and ruby vanish like
the magic shimmer of the rainbow. Only let this one
teardrop, the Taj Mahal, glisten spotlessly bright on
the cheek of time...
(Poet Rabindranath Tagore)
The Taj Mahal is one of the most
beautiful masterpieces of architecture in the world.
It is an extravagant marble monument of love,
built by Shahjahan in 1653 as a memorial to his queen Mumtaz Mahal who died
giving birth to their 14th child.
This most famous Mughal monument was constructed by Emperor Shah Jahan in
memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the 'lady of the Taj'. It has been described
as the most extravagant monument ever built for love. A total of 20,000 people
worked on the building from 1631 to 1653. The main architect was Isa Khan, who
came from Shiraz in Iran.
White marble and red sandstone, silver and gold,
carnelian and jasper,
moonstone and jade, lapiz lazuli and coral were fashioned by 20, 000 skilled
workers to make the emperor's dream a reality. It took 22 years to complete - a
poignant symbol of eternal love where Shahjahan too lies buried, reunited at
last with his beloved Mumtaz.
Taj Mahal stands on the bank of River Yamuna, which otherwise serves as a wide
moat defending the Great Red Fort of Agra, the center of the Mughal emperors
until they moved their capital to Delhi in 1637.
It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his
second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess. 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.
Inside the Taj Mahal, the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal stands at the center of an
octagonal hall, while the slightly larger tomb of Shah Jahan, who died in 1666,
is off to one side. Both are elaborately carved and inlaid with semiprecious
stones, illuminated by sunlight filtering through an elaborately carved marble
screen that is also studded with jewels.
Different people have different views of
the Taj but it would be enough to say that the Taj has a life of its own that
leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. As
an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or
subtracted from it.
Agra,
city in northern India, in Uttar Pradesh State, capital of Agra District, on
the Yamuna River. Agra is a railroad junction and a commercial and industrial
center for the surrounding agricultural area. The city has an extensive trade
in cotton, grain, tobacco, salt, and sugar. Factories are engaged in food
processing and the production of cotton textiles, carpets, iron and steel, and
leather goods.
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