Taj Mahal, the famed monument that is so popular among people that everyone wishes to visit it at least once in their lifetime. It is an essential part of your golden triangle tour package. Built in the memory of his third wife, the Taj is an ivory-white marble mausoleum in Agra on the banks of Yamuna. Here are some of the facts about the marvel that you might be unaware of :
#1 Shah Jahan built this mausoleum in the memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to their fourteenth child.
#2 The four minarets built around the Taj Mahal are strategically built tilting away from the main structure. Many historical buildings had previously been a victim of their own weight in the face of natural calamities. That is why, in order to protect the building from being damaged by the minarets in the time of an earthquake, they were built in such a way that there would be no damage caused to the building.
#3 The gardens around Taj Mahal previously had a wide range of flowers before they were redesigned during the British rule which were more suited to British tastes.
#4 Taj Mahal is an active mosque even today because of which it is closed off every friday and during the Ramadan. You should also dress appropriately when visiting the monument to show it appropriate respect.
#5 It is said that Shah Jahan has ordered the hands of the twenty thousand artisans involved in building Taj Mahal to be cut off so that they would never again be able to repeat such a beautiful creation.
#6 The magnificent work of art took a total of twenty years to be built into the masterpiece it is today. With the construction beginning around 1632 and finishing in 1653, the building is famed to be one of the most symmetrical buildings in the world.
#7 Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Taj Mahal was bejeweled with twenty eight types of precious and semi precious stones like lapis lazuli until the British plucked them away from the building during the 1857 revolt. Many of them were imported from all around the world- jades from Tibet, jade from China, and the heavy white marble was transported from Rajasthan.
#8 Only the crypt of Mumtaz Mahal is undecorated (because Islam forbids the decoration of graves). It is also the only structure that is not in perfect symmetry like every other structure of the monument.
#9 It is said that the Taj looks bigger and bigger as you move away from it through its entrance. The idea behind it is that it grows bigger and bigger to such an extent so that you take it in your heart forever.
#10 It is said that Shah Jahan planned to build a black replica of Taj Mahal for him to be buried there. His plans, however, were cut short when Aurangzeb imprisoned the old man after he rebelled. Shah Jahan never visited his wife’s dying place even once in his last eight years because of the house arrest he was put under by his son.
#11 In order to save the beautiful structure from coming under attack during war, false structures were built on and around it in order to throw off German, Japanese, and later Pakistani pilots sent to bomb the Taj.
#12 Because of the terrible pollution in Agra caused by the numerous factories that has been set there for years to make use of the Yamuna river, the structure had started to rapidly deteriorate into an ugly yellow colour. To prevent further deterioration, strict measures were taken including shutting down of factories nearby. Today, only electric vehicles are allowed to be near the structure and a four thousand square mile environmental radius has been declared around the monument.
This beautiful architectural marvel is something that you cannot afford to miss out on. An easy way of visiting this beauty is opting for a short 2 day 3 night golden triangle tour and making the most of your weekend.
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