Taj Mahal: The Great Historical Monument in India
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal is the most popular historical monument as well as a great tourist attraction in India. This is a Mausoleum built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Queen Mumtaj Mahal. It is located in Agra city of India on the bank of river Yamuna (about 220 Km south east of New Delhi, the capital city of India) Even today it proudly stands in the first place by popularity among the seven wonders of the world. In 1983 it was included in UNESCO world heritage sites. Every year many lacs of visitors from both domestic and foreign countries are visiting this great site Taj Mahal and it can be said as one of the most visited tourist places of India. Even today it is celebrated as the symbol of eternal love in most part of the country.
The History of Taj Mahal
During the 17th century Shah Jahan, one of the great emperors of Mughal dynasty, was ruling the northern parts of India. He had been in great love with his third wife named Mumtaj Mahal. The Queen Mumtaj Mahal died when she gave birth to their fourteenth child named Gauhara Begum. The Emperor Shah Jahan could not digest the demise of his beloved wife and wanted to build a great structure in memory of Mumtaj Mahal. The Emperor thought that that should be unique and no other thing in the world can be compared with its appearance and beauty. Just one year after the demise of his wife, in 1631 he began the construction of that great historical monument. Many thousands of labors, artisans and craftmen were employed to complete the work. It took about 22 years, from 1631 AD to 1653 AD, to completely finish the work. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri was the one who had worked as the principal designer of this great achceivement.
The Magnificent Satellite View of Taj Mahal and Yamuna River
Facts About Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal is the blend of Persian, Islamic and Indian architecture. It has indeed most attractive and great appearance with a huge onion shaped tomb on the top standing on the square marble plinth measuring about 185 ftX185 ft constructed over a high stone base and four tall minarets on each corner and each minaret has a height of 160 ft. The total height of Taj is mesured as 213 ft. The prime square building has chamfered corners and each corner is having beautifully decorated iwans to give octagonal shape to the entire building. On both sides of iwans we can find double arches which have been constructed one on another. There are equal size of tombs resting on the top of the iwans.
Since it was built of high quality white colored marble stones it looks so beautiful that any other structure in this world can not be compared with it. The front portion of Taj Mahal is provided with the beautiful garden which boasts variety of colorful crotons and beautiful flower plants. We can alos see a lengthy water pool just infront of Taj where we can enjoy the beautiful reflection of the monument Many visitors of Taj Mahal say that it would be an amazing experience to enjoy the magnificent view of the structure in fullmoon light. Colourful paints, stone inlays, stucco were used to decorate the exterior part of Taj Mahal while the interior one is decorated with large number of semi-precious and precious stones, plant motis and artful screens. We can also find the important passages of Quran written on the surface of walls of the structure. The cenotaphs of both Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal laid in the central portion of the inner chamber. The size of cenotaph of the Emperor is bigger than that of the Queen. Both of them have been beautifully decorated with the precious and semi-precious stones.
Popular Agra Hotels
There are many luxurious hotels in Agra where you could stay and enjoy the beauty of Taj Mahal. Staying at hotels will enable us to get peaceful trip to Taj Mahal. Amar Vilas, Jaypee Palace, Mughal Sheraton, Taj View, Agra Ashok, Trident Hilton, Clarks Shiraz, Holiday Inn, Mansingh Palace, Howard Park Plaza are some of the luxury hotels in Agra.
Grand Hotel, Atithi, Ganga Ratan, Savoy, Sunrise, Joshi Tourist Complex are some of the budget Agra hotels.
The whole beauty of Taj Mahal can be enjoyed only by visiting in person. In fact tourist people visiting North India will never miss this great wonder of world!
