The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal has to be the most beautiful architectural structure that I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. Following are just a few of the facts pertaining to it, its builder and the romantic story about it that will live forever.
*The Taj was built over a period of 22 years from 1632 as a tribute to a beautiful woman, Empress Mumtaz Mahal, and as a monument for enduring love by Emperor Shah Jahan.
*She was his last wife who died at age 39 during the birth of her fourteenth child within their 20 years of marriage.
*Shah Jahan purchased a plot of land on the banks of the Yamuna River for building the Taj.
*The marble came from quarries in Makarana.
*A 2 1/2 mile road ramp was built to haul huge pieces of marble to the site of the construction.
*The scaffolding of the Taj was made not of wood or bamboo, but with bricks.
*The main structure is square and has beveled corners.
*Each side is 185.69 ft. long.
*There is a dome on the inside of the Taj and another one built on top of it - the one seen from the outside. The space between them is hollow because the weight of solid marble would crash down onto the structure.
*The entrance to the tomb leads to the central hall, which houses the false tombs and has four small octagonal halls grouped around it.
*The original graves are located in a crypt, which is directly below the central hall.
*It is said that as many as 35 different types of precious and semi-precious stones were used in the inlay work done on the Taj. Some of these are turquoise, jade, agate, coral, onyx, bloodstone, jasper, garnet and mother of pearl.
*These gems were imported from all over the world.
*The money, labour and devotion involved in building the Taj can not be calculated.
*The only asymmetrical object in the Taj is the casket of the emperor which was built beside the queen's, as an afterthought.
*Two identical mosques built of red sandstone are on the sides of the Taj. One is empty and only serves as a symmetrical balance to the Taj.
*Before her death the empress asked her husband to build a monument that would show the world the love and devotion for one another, thus the Taj.
*Behind the Taj across the river one can see the foundation for an identical Taj Mahal. This was to be the Shah's resting place but it was to be made of black marble. The two Tajs were to be joined by a bridge over the river. The Shah said that their two souls would meet on the bridge at night in the moonlight. Unfortunately after his son overthrew him it was decided that India did not need another Taj so it was never completed.
*When the Shah was 65 one of his sons imprisoned him in the Red Fort in Agra until his death in 1666.
*From the grill work of the prison window he could still see his Taj in the distance.
*It is said that he wept so much that he began to loose his eyesight. He no longer could see his Taj. Then one of his daughters brought a large diamond and placed it in the window. It served as a magnifying glass of sorts and allowed the grieving Shah to gaze upon his Taj until his dying day.
*These are the actual words of the Shah concerning the Taj:
".....The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs, and makes sun and moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world this edifice has been made, to display thereby the Creator's glory."
The first photo is the front view of the Taj as you enter through the huge gate. The second one is a closer view of the front of the Taj. The third is a close up of the inlay work of the precious stones within the marble. The fourth is one of the rooms in which the Shah was imprisoned. The fifth is the view he had from his prison cell. And finally, the last photo is the most photographed view of the Taj Mahal. By the way, Indians pronounce it as if it were spelled "Taj Mail."