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This iconic symbol of eternal love is renowned for its magnificent beauty and romantic tale, but there are many other lesser-known aspects.
1. Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal to commemorate his third wife, Empress Mumtaz Mahal. She passed away giving birth to their 14th child at the age of 40, after 30 hours of labor.
2. The four towers surrounding the Taj Mahal are positioned further away from the main building than usual, so if they collapse, they won't damage the main mausoleum.
3. During the British colonial period in India, the gardens around the mausoleum were redesigned to resemble London gardens. Previously, the gardens of the Taj Mahal were filled with many roses and lilies.
4. The Taj Mahal has a mosque and is still active. Every Friday, the mausoleum closes so that worshippers can enter and pray.
5. According to legend, the artists and architects involved in building the Taj Mahal were killed to prevent them from ever 'building such a beautiful structure again.' However, historians argue they were only required to sign contracts.
6. The Taj Mahal is a representation of Emperor Shah Jahan's vision of his queen Mumtaz's abode in paradise.
7. Approximately 20,000 people worked day and night for 22 years (1632-1653) to complete this massive mausoleum. The construction cost of the Taj Mahal amounted to 320 million rupees (equivalent to 1 billion USD at that time).
8. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, considered the chief architect of the Taj Mahal, was not Indian but Persian, hailing from Iran.
9. Emperor Shah Jahan would visit the mausoleum by boat on the Yamuna River behind the Taj Mahal.
10. Shah Jahan's other wives and his most beloved courtiers are buried in tombs just outside the Taj Mahal.
11. More than 1,000 elephants were employed to transport heavy materials during the construction of the mausoleum.
12. There are 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones inlaid on marble at the Taj Mahal. Lapis lazuli was brought from Tibet, jade from China, and white marble slabs – the main building material – were transported from Rajasthan.
13. After the completion of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his own son – Aurangzeb – in 1658. The king could only gaze at the Taj Mahal from the window during the last 8 years of his life.
14. The white marble of the mausoleum is turning yellow due to high air pollution in Agra. Only electric vehicles are allowed near the monument, and the government has declared an environmental protection zone of over 10,000 km2 around the Taj Mahal to control pollution.
15. The Taj Mahal is cracking at an alarming rate due to groundwater depletion beneath the structure. The wooden foundation, once submerged, is gradually deteriorating. Even the minarets are starting to tilt.
16. At different times of the day, the Taj Mahal displays different colors. Many believe this change resembles a woman's mood swings.
17. In the 19th century, British soldiers plundered the precious stones from the walls of the mausoleum. By the end of the 19th century, the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, requested the restoration of the mausoleum and gifted a large hanging lamp to the Taj Mahal.
18. Indian Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore likened the Taj Mahal to a “teardrop on the cheek of time.”
19. The inscriptions on the mausoleum describe and praise Empress Mumtaz.
20. After his passing, Shah Jahan was laid to rest in the Taj Mahal, beside his beloved wife.
Source: Zing News
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Reference: Travel guide by Mytour
MytourMarch 8, 2015
