From 1632 to 1653, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan paid to build this architectural beauty to honour his wife, Emperor Mumtaz.
Taj Mahal was built with the cost of nearly 32 million rupees. Present time the cost would be close to $1 Billion dollars.
It took 22 long years to build the Taj Mahal.
Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is regarded as the chief architect of the Taj Mahal.
Over 20,000 labourers were employed for the construction of the Taj Mahal.
The four minarets of the Taj Mahal lean slightly outward rather than stand straight. This was done so that if any of them fell, they would fall away from the tomb rather than crash into the structure.
28 types of precious and semi-precious stones were collected from Tibet, China, Sri Lanka and some parts of India for construction of the Taj Mahal.
The marble stones used in the construction were bought from different regions and countries. Out of which the translucent white marble was bought from Makrana; Jade & Crystal was imported from China, the Jasper from Punjab, Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan, Carnelia from Arabia and Turquoise from Tibet.
1,000 elephants were used for transporting the construction material.
There are calligraphy which is done over the walls of Taj Mahal. These are mostly collected from the holy Quran Sharif. The tomb contains 99 different names of Almighty Allah as calligraphic inscriptions. There are also verses inscribed on the Tomb of Queen Mumtaz Mahal and Emperor Shah Jahan.
The Taj would appear to be pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden in the moonlight.
It is not permitted for an aircraft to fly over the Taj Mahal.
The white marble of the Taj Mahal is turning yellow due to the air pollution.
The UNESCO World Heritage classified the Taj Mahal as one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ in the year 2007 with over 100 million votes.
The Taj Mahal has 4-8 million visitors annually. Sometimes there are over 40 to 50 thousand visitors on a day.
Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz were buried beneath the inner chamber of Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan’s other wives and favourite servants were buried in the mausoleums which is situated outside the Taj Mahal but in the same complex.
The Taj Mahal is cracking at an alarming rate due to the lack of groundwater beneath the structure.
In 2008, a Bangladeshi filmmaker constructed a replica of the Taj Mahal at a cost of US $56 million dollars in Bangladesh. The construction took five years to complete.
In Dubai, a Taj Mahal inspired luxury hotel, event, and shopping complex is under construction. It is called The Taj Arabia. It will be four times bigger than the size of the original Taj Mahal and will cost an estimated US $1 billion dollars. It will have 20 storey glass hotel and 350 luxury rooms.
Myths:
The British soldiers were accused of prying precious stones from the walls of the Taj Mahal during the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857.
Myth Busted:
No proof has been found to support the myth that the artists and architects involved with the construction of the Taj Mahal were later put to death so that they could never built such a beautiful architectural beauty.
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