Taj Mahal

Undoubtedly India’s most famous monument and one of the most famous buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. This crowning glory of Mughal architecture in India, it was built by Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Construction began in 1631 and the building took 20 years and over 20,000 workers to complete. The white marble used in the construction of the Taj was brought all the way from the famous marble mines of Makrana in Rajasthan. The central structure stands on a platform of marble surrounded by four minarets. The Taj is covered with beautiful domes and has walls decorated with fine carvings.

Mumtaz Mahal married Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor in 1612. It was Shah Jahan’s second marriage but the two were madly in love with each other. Together they had 14 children, and it was while giving birth that Mumtaz died. Her death was completely unexpected and left the shocked emperor determined to build a monument that would keep her memory alive for ages to come.

The Taj Mahal is actually a mausoleum. If you enter the main hall in the building you’ll notice two grave tomb like structures. These are not the real burial places of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan who are buried in an underground vault. The fake tombs are in continuation of an old Mughal practice used to protect the graves of dead rulers from vandals.

One of the most fascinating details about the Taj Mahal is its perfect symmetry. Also, the inscriptions on its walls are written in such a way that when you see from bottom to top, the size of the writing seems the same, although the writing is smaller at the bottom than at the top.