Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar
Pradesh
Visit the world famous Taj Mahal
built by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in 1630 for his Queen
Mumtaz Mahal to enshrine her mortal remains. The construction is
believed to have taken 22 years to complete with over
20,000 craftsmen working round the clock.
Agra once the capital of Mughal Empire during the 16th and early
18th centuries,is two and a half hours by express train from New
Delhi. This most famous Mughal Monument was constructed by
Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, th'lady
of the Taj'. It has been described as the most extravagant
monument ever built for love for the emperor was heartbroken
when Mumtaz, to whom he had married for 17 years, died in 1629
in childbirth, after producing 14 children. Construction of Taj
began in 1631 and was not completed until 1653. Workers were not
recruited only from all over India but also from central Asia
and in total 20,000 people worked on the building. Experts
were even brought from as far away as Europe - The Frenchman
Austin of Bordeaux and the Italian Veroneo if Venice had a hand
in its decoration
When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises
from the emperor; first, that he build the Taj; second, that he
should marry again; third that he be kind to their children, and
fourth, that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary. He kept
the first and second promises. Taj is the symbol of eternal
love.
Having buried her down at Behrampur, it was time for the emperor
to keep his promise and build a tomb there itself. But by and by
, it was felt that it was virtually impossible to transfer all
the marble there, as it would cost an entire fortune and an
entire lifetime. So, when Agra was chosen as the only
alternative, astonishingly her grave was uprooted and brought to
Agra, only to be finally transferred to the monument, completed
twenty two years later.
The main entrance to the Taj is a high red sandstone gate,
set on the northern edge of an ornamental courtyard which is
lined on the western side with tourist shops while the eastern
side has a police station and administrative offices. You can
 enter
the courtyard from any of the three sides, but tickets are sold
at the eastern and western gates only a bit of a nuisance if you
are coming through the south gate from Taj Ganj. The high red
sandstone entrance gateway is inscribed with verses from the
Koran in Arabic. The entrance now through a small door to the
right of the gate where everyone goes through security check. If
you are carrying a video camera, photography is only allowed
from inside the main gate; once you have shot from there the
camera mist be deposited in one of the lockers at the dek inside
the main gate.
Different people have different views of the Taj but it would
be enough to say that the Taj has a life of its own that leaps
out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of
love. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be
added or subtracted from it.
|
