TAJMAHAL
Taj Mahal
An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.
Promises made by Shah Jahan
When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from Shah Jahan.first, to build the taj; second, he would marry again; third, that he would be kind to their children and fourth, that he would visit the tomb on her death anniversary.
To fulfill the promise he had made to his wife Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal. Watching Taj Mahal monument in itself is a tribute to love. Taj Mahal is located at the city of Agra in India. It took 22yrs to get it completed. It is alleged that the hands of all the workers had been cut off so that they could never built any other monument like Taj Mahal.White sheets of still water under a half moonlight A land lain undisturbed for much of history, Visited in the past of an eerie knowingness, A discipline demanding sacrifice of all, A beneficent place where the seeker may Iive off the bounty of earth, Find perpetual warmth on southern shores, perpetual cold in the north."
The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh.
Construction began around 1632 and would continue for the next two decades. The chief architect was probably Ustad Ahmad Lahouri, an Indian of Persian descent who would later be credited with designing the Red Fort at Delhi.
In all, more than 20,000 workers from India, Persia, Europe and the Ottoman empire along with some 1,000 elephants, were brought in to build the mausoleum complex.
The Taj Mahal is considered to be the greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture.
The uniqueness of Taj Mahal lies in some truly remarkable innovations carried out by the horticulture planners and architects of Shah Jahan. One such genius planning is the placing of tomb at one end of the quadripartite garden rather than in the exact centre, which added rich depth and perspective to the distant view of the monument. It is also, one of the best examples of raised tomb variety. The tomb is further raised on a square platform with the four sides of the octagonal base of the minarets extended beyond the square at the corners. The top of the platform is reached through a lateral flight of steps provided in the centre of the southern side. The ground plan of the Taj Mahal is in perfect balance of composition, the octagonal tomb chamber in the centre, encompassed by the portal halls and the four corner rooms. The plan is repeated on the upper floor. The exterior of the tomb is square in plan, with chamfered corners. The large double storied domed chamber, which houses the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, is a perfect octagon in plan. The exquisite octagonal marble lattice screen encircling both cenotaphs is a piece of superb workmanship. It is highly polished and richly decorated with inlay work. The borders of the frames are inlaid with precious stones representing flowers executed with wonderful perfection. The hues and the shades of the stones used to make the leaves and the flowers appear almost real. The cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal is in perfect centre of the tomb chamber, placed on a rectangular platform decorated with inlaid flower plant motifs. The cenotaph of Shah Jahan is greater than Mumtaz Mahal and installed more than thirty years later by the side of the latter on its west. The upper cenotaphs are only illusory and the real graves are in the lower tomb chamber (crypt), a practice adopted in the imperial Mughal tombs.
Pollution around The Tajmhl
Air pollution from nearby factories and automobiles poses a continual threat to the mausoleum’s gleaming white marble façade, and in 1998, India’s Supreme court Courtordered a number of anti-pollution measures to protect the building from deterioration.
An area of 10,400 sq km around the Taj Mahal is defined to protect the monument from pollution. Some factories were closed, while vehicular traffic was banned from the immediate vicinity of the complex.
Today, some 3 million people a year (or around 45,000 a day during peak tourist season) visit the Taj Mahal.
An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.
Promises made by Shah Jahan
When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from Shah Jahan.first, to build the taj; second, he would marry again; third, that he would be kind to their children and fourth, that he would visit the tomb on her death anniversary.
To fulfill the promise he had made to his wife Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal. Watching Taj Mahal monument in itself is a tribute to love. Taj Mahal is located at the city of Agra in India. It took 22yrs to get it completed. It is alleged that the hands of all the workers had been cut off so that they could never built any other monument like Taj Mahal.White sheets of still water under a half moonlight A land lain undisturbed for much of history, Visited in the past of an eerie knowingness, A discipline demanding sacrifice of all, A beneficent place where the seeker may Iive off the bounty of earth, Find perpetual warmth on southern shores, perpetual cold in the north."
The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh.
Construction began around 1632 and would continue for the next two decades. The chief architect was probably Ustad Ahmad Lahouri, an Indian of Persian descent who would later be credited with designing the Red Fort at Delhi.
In all, more than 20,000 workers from India, Persia, Europe and the Ottoman empire along with some 1,000 elephants, were brought in to build the mausoleum complex.
The Taj Mahal is considered to be the greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture.
The uniqueness of Taj Mahal lies in some truly remarkable innovations carried out by the horticulture planners and architects of Shah Jahan. One such genius planning is the placing of tomb at one end of the quadripartite garden rather than in the exact centre, which added rich depth and perspective to the distant view of the monument. It is also, one of the best examples of raised tomb variety. The tomb is further raised on a square platform with the four sides of the octagonal base of the minarets extended beyond the square at the corners. The top of the platform is reached through a lateral flight of steps provided in the centre of the southern side. The ground plan of the Taj Mahal is in perfect balance of composition, the octagonal tomb chamber in the centre, encompassed by the portal halls and the four corner rooms. The plan is repeated on the upper floor. The exterior of the tomb is square in plan, with chamfered corners. The large double storied domed chamber, which houses the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, is a perfect octagon in plan. The exquisite octagonal marble lattice screen encircling both cenotaphs is a piece of superb workmanship. It is highly polished and richly decorated with inlay work. The borders of the frames are inlaid with precious stones representing flowers executed with wonderful perfection. The hues and the shades of the stones used to make the leaves and the flowers appear almost real. The cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal is in perfect centre of the tomb chamber, placed on a rectangular platform decorated with inlaid flower plant motifs. The cenotaph of Shah Jahan is greater than Mumtaz Mahal and installed more than thirty years later by the side of the latter on its west. The upper cenotaphs are only illusory and the real graves are in the lower tomb chamber (crypt), a practice adopted in the imperial Mughal tombs.
Pollution around The Tajmhl
Air pollution from nearby factories and automobiles poses a continual threat to the mausoleum’s gleaming white marble façade, and in 1998, India’s Supreme court Courtordered a number of anti-pollution measures to protect the building from deterioration.
An area of 10,400 sq km around the Taj Mahal is defined to protect the monument from pollution. Some factories were closed, while vehicular traffic was banned from the immediate vicinity of the complex.
Today, some 3 million people a year (or around 45,000 a day during peak tourist season) visit the Taj Mahal.
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