- The construction of the Taj
Mahal began in 1632 and was completed in 1653. It took a total of twenty
two years to complete the construction of this monument.
- The architecture of the Taj
Mahal is a combination of Indian, Persian and Islamic styles of
architecture.
- The name of the architect of the
Taj Mahal is Ahmed Lahauri.
- The Taj Mahal was Shah Jahan’s
imagination of Mumtaz’s home in paradise.
- Around 20,000 people worked day
and night for twenty two years to complete construction of the Taj Mahal.
- The four minarets (towers)
surrounding the Taj Mahal were constructed father away from the main
structure than usual. This was done so that if any of them fell, they
would fall away from the tomb rather than cause additional damage.
- The cost of construction of the
Taj Mahal was around Rs.320 million.
- The Taj Mahal was constructed
using the best quality marble from Rajasthan, Tibet, Afghanistan and
China.
- At different times of the day
the Taj Mahal appears to be in a different colour. Some believe that these
changing colours depict the changing moods of a woman.
- The Taj Mahal is one of the
wonders of the world and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- There was a popular myth that
Shah Jahan was planning to construct a black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna,
this is not true.
- Another popular myth around the
Taj Mahal is that after the construction of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan cut
off the hands of all the workers so that such a structure could not be
built again. Fortunately, this is not true.
- The Taj Mahal has a mosque in
its premises, which is why the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays and only
those going for customary prayers are permitted inside the Taj Mahal.
- Shah Jahan approached the Taj
Mahal on a boat which would sail down the River Yamuna which ran behind
the Taj Mahal.
- By the late 19th century, the
Taj Mahal had been defaced by the British soldiers who chiseled out
precious stones from the walls of the monument. At the end of the 19th
century, British Viceroy, Lord Curzon, ordered a restoration of the
monument and also gifted a large lamp which hangs in the interior chambers
of the Taj Mahal.
- In 2000, an Indian writer P.N.
Oak claimed that the Taj Mahal was actually a ShivTemple and filed a
petition with the Supreme Court of India to excavate the site of the Taj
to look for proof. His petition was rejected by the Supreme Court.
- In 2001, the UNESCO documented
more than two million visitors to the Taj Mahal.
- India’s’ Nobel Laureate,
Rabindra Nath Tagore, referred to the Taj Mahal as a “tear drop on the
cheek of time”.
- Calligraphy on the tomb of
Mumtaz identifies and praises her.
- After his death, Shah Jahan was
laid to rest in the Taj Mahal besides the tomb of his wife Mumtaz.
- A Taj-inspired luxury hotel and
shopping complex is under construction in Dubai. The Taj
Arabia, as the replica is called, will be four times the size
of the original and will cost an estimated US $1 billion.
