I think every one of us knows what The Taj Mahal is, or at least heard it once in our life. it is one of the 7 wonders of the world and a very popular place to travel. but many of us don't know some interesting facts about it. so, today I'm going to tell you some interesting facts about The TAJ MAHAL. You may know some of them, but I assure you, after reading all of them, you will get amazed! Comment me below what was your favourite point among them.
The Taj Mahal is situated at the south bank of the river Yamuna, Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It has made on a huge 42-acre ground, bounded by beautiful gardens.
The meaning of "Taj Mahal" in English is "crown of the palace". It is made of ivory-white marble rock. It was constructed using materials that were brought from all over India and Asia. Myths say that over 1000 elephants were used to transport the materials.
- i) The marble was brought from Makrana(Rajasthan),
- ii) The Jasper was brought from Punjab,
- iii) The jade and crystals were brought from China.
It took Approximately 17 years and 22,000 workers, painters, stone cutters and embroidery artists to build the mausoleum. (1631AD to 1648AD).
Chief architect Ustad Ahmed Lahauri planned the Taj Mahal. In order to protect Taj Mahal he decided to tilt the towers slightly so that if they fall, they would fall away from the rest of Taj Mahal and do not harm the grave.
Picture-Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal - Image Source
It was made by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal. The real or full name of the Emperor was Mirza Shahab-ud-din Baig Muhammad Khan Khurram.
Shah Jahan had 9 wives, and Mumtaz was his 3rd wife (and first love). she died in 1631 in Burhanpur, Deccan (now Madhya Pradesh) while giving birth to their 14th child. After that, so stricken by the death of his lifetime companion, the emperor decided to build a spectacular tomb in her memory.Shah Jahan was the third son of Emperor Jahangir, the previous and the 4th ruler of Mughal dynasty.
The Taj Mahal was entitled as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1983 and was recognized as the jewel of Muslim art in India.
it was also declared as a winner of the new 7 wonders of world initiative(2000-2007)The centre white doom is the most recognizable feature of Taj Mahal, it is also called "onion doom" it rises 35 meters(115 feet) and is surrounded by four other smaller dooms.
Rumoured also say that the Emperor Shah Jahan, after completing the mausoleum ordered to chop the hands of all the workers so that it could not be made by anyone ever again
In the British era in India, most of the precious stones that were embroidered on the mausoleum were ripped off and got looted from the walls by the British army.
Taj Mahal during WWII - Image Source
During WWII, to save the Taj Mahal from Nazi attack, the British soldiers placed bamboo scaffolding over it so that it can be camouflaged as bamboo stockpile from above. Also, during the war against Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, the same process was done to save the jewel from invaders.
In recent days, Taj Mahal is changing it's colour from white to yellowish first and turning brownish and greenish due to heavy pollution. The ASI (Indian Archaeological of India) has been doing its best to recover the beauty of it.
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