Amazing Facts about Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal 'Crown of the Palace' is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the southern bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658) to house the tomb of his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal.it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631, to be built in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died on 17 June that year, while giving birth to their 14th child, Gauhara Begum.Construction started in 1632,and the mausoleum was completed in 1648, while the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later.The imperial court documenting Shah Jahan's grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal illustrates the love story held as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.

Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643, but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2020 would be approximately 70 billion rupees (about U.S. $916 million). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts 7–8 million visitors a year and in 2007, it was declared a winner of the New 7 wonders of World (2000-2007) initiative.

Facts About the Taj Mahal

Fact 1: Sick with grief, Shah Jahan was first inspired to build the Taj Mahal after his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died while giving birth to their 14th child. His wife was in labor for 30 hours before she died at age 40.

Fact 2: The four minarets (towers) surrounding the Taj Mahal were constructed farther away from the main structure than usual. The minarets also lean slightly outward rather than stand straight. This was done as a safety measure so that if any of them fell, they would fall away from the tomb rather than crash into the central structure.

Fact 3: During British rule in India, the garden was landscaped to look more like the manicured lawns in London, England. The original garden was adorned with lots of roses and daffodils.

Fact 4: The Taj Mahal contains a working mosque and is closed on Fridays for prayer. Respect should be shown while visiting because it is an active religious structure. Dress appropriately, despite the heat.

Fact 5: There is no proof to support the long-standing myth that artists and architects involved with the construction of the Taj Mahal were later put to death so that they could never "repeat such a beautiful feat." Instead, historians believe that they were required to sign contracts.

Fact 6: With construction beginning around 1632 and finishing in 1653, the Taj Mahal took an estimated 22 years to build. Small refinements continued thereafter.

Fact 7: Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, generally regarded as the chief architect of the Taj Mahal, was not Indian; he was a Persian from Iran.

Fact 8: Islamic tradition forbids the decoration of graves, so Shah Jahan and his wife are actually buried in a plain crypt beneath the main inner chamber of the Taj Mahal.

Fact 9: Shah Jahan's other wives and even his favorite servant are buried in mausoleums just outside of the Taj Mahal.

Fact 10: Construction of the Taj Mahal cost an estimated 32 million Indian rupees (the equivalent of over US $1 billion at the time).

Fact 11: The structure on the western side of the Taj Mahal is thought to have been used as a guest house.

Fact 12: Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport heavy materials and supplies for construction.

Fact 13: A total of 28 types of precious and semiprecious jewels are set in the marble. The turquoise came from Tibet, and jade came from China. Heavy white marble — the principal building material — was transported from Rajasthan.

Fact 14: British soldiers pried precious stones from the walls of the Taj Mahal during the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857.

Fact 15: An estimated 20,000 laborers were recruited from all over Asia to contribute to the massive project. Remnants of their massive encampment, bazaar, and living quarters are now a nearby neighborhood.

Fact 16: Following the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was put under house arrest in 1658 by his son, Aurangzeb. Shah Jahan was only able to view the Taj Mahal from his window for the last eight years of his life before being entombed there.

Fact 17: False structures and scaffolding were constructed around the Taj Mahal throughout different conflicts to confuse German, Japanese, and Pakistani bomber pilots.

Fact 18: The Taj Mahal's white marble is rapidly turning yellow because of terrible air pollution in Agra. Only electric vehicles are allowed near the structure, and a 4,000-square-mile environmental radius was declared around the monument to help control emissions. Visitors must walk or take electric buses from the parking area to the Taj Mahal.

Fact 19: The Taj Mahal is actually cracking at an alarming rate due to lack of groundwater beneath the structure. Wooden foundations once submerged are thought to be rotting. Even the minarets are beginning to lean more.

Fact 20: The Taj Mahal was declared one of the New seven wonders of world in 2007, receiving more than 100 million votes. Voting for the Taj Mahal actually helped push the controversial internet-and-phone-based poll into the world spotlight.

Fact 21: In 2008, a Bangladeshi filmmaker constructed a replica of the Taj Mahal at a cost of US $56 million dollars so that his impoverished countrymen in Bangladesh could enjoy the famous monument without traveling to India. The replication took five years to complete with modern equipment.

Fact 22: A Taj-inspired luxury hotel, event, and shopping complex is under construction in Dubai. The Taj Arabia, as the replica is called, will be four times the size of the original and will cost an estimated US $1 billion. The 20-story glass hotel will contain 350 luxury rooms.

Another Aspect of Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is one of the world’s great tourist attractions, hosting millions of visitors per year. Though it was designated as UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 and is currently overseen by the Archaeological Survey of India, its heavy visitor traffic is just one of the many factors that threaten the integrity of the site.

One of the biggest risk factors for the Taj Mahal is air pollution, which discolors the exterior and, some experts think, causes acid rain that deteriorates the marble. Air pollution is caused by a multitude of factors including industry, vehicle emissions, and the burning of household waste. The government of India designated an area called the Taj Trapezium Zone (named for its trapezoidal shape), a 10,400 square kilometer swath (about 4,000 square miles) of Agra encompassing the Taj Mahal as well as the Agra Fort and the historic Mughal settlement of Fatehpur Sikri. Oil refineries and coal-burning industries have been ordered to regulate their emissions or switch to natural gas within this zone, and most have complied.

There has also been a ban on auto traffic near the Taj Mahal, air quality monitors have been installed, and the Archaeological Survey of India has proposed a tourist cap and increased fees to limit visitor impact.

Another potential risk for the Taj Mahal is the drying up of the Yamuna River, which flows along the rear of the complex. The river has been partially dammed upstream from the Taj Mahal in order to augment municipal water supplies, and some argue that the changes in the soil due to the lower water table may be threatening the structural integrity of the monument. Various activists and scholars have claimed to have found cracks in the marble platform, sinking of the structure, and tipping of the minarets, though UNESCO asserts that

The Taj Mahal is rightly a top destination for millions of travelers. As global tourism grows and the economic pressures of industry continue to increase, the authorities who oversee the site must strive to implement legal and structural measures to ensure that this irreplaceable monument survives.