The Amazing TAJ MAHAL

World’s most spectacular monument (Taj Mahal) that epitomizes love at par.

Fast Facts

Year of Construction: 1631

Completed In: 1653

Time Taken: 22 years

Built By: Shah Jahan

Dedicated to: Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Bano Begum), the wife of Shah Jahan

Location: Agra (Uttar Pradesh), India

Building Type: Islamic tomb

Architecture: Mughal (Combination of Persian, Islamic and Indian architecture style)

Architect: Ustad Ahmad Lahauri

Cost of Construction: 32 crore rupees

Number of workers: 20,000

Highlights: One of the Seven Wonders of the World; A UNESCO World Heritage Site

Interesting Facts Of Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan fell in love with the beautiful Arjumand Bano Begum and married her, making her his third wife.

Arjumand Bano Begum was christened by Shah Jahan as Mumtaz Mahal, meaning the “Chosen One Of The Palace” or “Jewel of the Palace”

Shah Jahan lost Mumtaz Mahal, when she died giving birth to their 14h child.

For the transportation of the construction materials, more than 1,000 elephants were employed.

As many as 28 different varieties of semi-precious and precious stones were used to adorn the Taj with exquisite inlay work.

Passages from Quran have been used as decorative elements throughout the complex.

On the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, 99 names of Allah can be found as calligraphic inscriptions.

Taj Mahal was built in stages, with the plinth and the tomb taking up roughly 15 years. Building of minarets, mosque, jawab, and gateway took additional 5 years to be completed.

Different types of marbles used in construction of Taj Mahal were brought over from many different regions & countries: Rajasthan, Punjab, China, Tibet, Afghanistan, Srilanka, & Arabia.

Many precious stones and Lapis Lazuli (a semi-precious stone) were ripped off from its walls by the Britishers during the Indian rebellion of 1857.

The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines. Some even believe that this changing pattern of colors depict different moods of a woman.

Taj Mahal attracts 2-4 million visitors annually with over 200,000 from overseas.

One of the most majestic man-made creations, the Taj was covered with a huge scaffold in the 20th Century so that it looked like a stockpile of bamboo to bombers. Then d uring the India- Pakistan war in 1971, and after 9/11, it was protected by camouflaging it with a green cloth.

Emperor Shah Jehan is widely believed to have desired a mausoleum for himself similar to that of the one he had built in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal . The writings of the European traveller, Tavernier mention that Shah Jehan began to build his own tomb on the other side of the river but could not complete it as he was deposed by his own son Aurangzeb .