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Know the reasons as to why thousands and thousands of visitors across the world throng this historical monument, and they want to have a more in-depth look at the Taj Mahal of Agra along with having a ceaseless sight at its glory and the beauty.
Introduction
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Taj Mahal of Agra happens to be a wonderful and phenomenal structure and the mausoleum of beauty and grandeur behind which is hidden a great history of love of an emperor for his wife which is known to one and all at present. Rauza-i munawwara which means illustrious or illumined in a garden, is what is considered to be the original name of the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan got this Taj Mahal built in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who passed away while giving birth to their 14th child named Gauhara Begum on June 17, 1631.
A brief history of the Taj Mahal
The architect of the Taj Mahal Agra was Ustad Ahmad Lahori, and the construction of this beautiful monument began in 1632, and it was completed in 1648, but there were surrounding buildings along with garden which had to be finished which were later completed after five years. The imperial court of the Taj Mahal illustrates the love story which becomes the inspiration for the construction of the Taj Mahal, and this particular imperial court documents the grief of Shah Jahan after the demise of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The construction of the Taj Mahal in its entirety was finished in 1653 with the cost of ₹32 million at that time which can be around 956 million U.S. dollars which would be equal to almost ₹70 billion if we talk in terms of the value in the year 2020. Its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site happened in 1983, and it became a winner of the new seven wonders of the world in 2007.
The construction and architecture of the Taj Mahal
According to some sources, more than 1000 elephants had been used to transport the materials which were used for the sake of building the Taj Mahal, and the materials came from all over India and Asia. The materials used for the construction of the Taj Mahal were translucent white marble, the Jasper, Jade and crystal, sapphire, carnelian, Lapis lazuli, and turquoise.
There were painters, embroidery artists, laborers, stonecutters who made great efforts to give great shape to the Taj Mahal, and if we talk about the number of these workers, then they were 22,000 in number. The height of this particular monument is 73 meters or 240 feet, and its location is in Agra, Uttar Pradesh of India.
As far as the architecture of the Taj Mahal is concerned, its architecture is Indo-Islamic and Mughal architecture and the tomb of the Taj Mahal is the central focus of the complex. The marble dome is beautifully constructed with the height of 115 feet or 35 meters. The minarets of the Taj Mahal of Agra have been given the shape of traditional elements of mosques, and the height of each minaret is more than 130 feet or 40 meters.
As far as the height of the interior walls of the Taj Mahal are concerned, they are approximately 25 meters or 82 feet high. Whether it is Taj Mahal exterior, detail of plant motifs on the walls of Taj Mahal, minaret, dome or base, reflective tiles or calligraphy of Arabic Ayaat, they all have beautiful decorations for which every visitor to this monument just loves to stay for longer and longer to have much and much closer look.
Tourism of the Taj Mahal
Tourism of the Taj Mahal is so high that every year report tells that a huge number of tourists come from across the globe to visit this monument. It was recorded by UNESCO that more than two million visitors came in 2001 which had a sudden surge, and this number increased to about 7 to 8 million just after 13 years in 2014. Not only the common people who come as tourists to visit this place, but even foreign dignitaries have not been behind to visit this monument as Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, George HW Bush, Vladimir Putin, Justin Trudeau et cetera have visited the Taj Mahal of Agra.
Final Point
Today the governing body of the Taj Mahal of Agra is the Government of India, and it handles it in a great way as visitors from around the world keep coming to visit this monument. This monument houses the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, along with the tomb of Shah Jahan. It is the tomb that is the center of focus of 42 acres or 17-hectare complex which has a guesthouse and a mosque.
Taj Mahal is not just a structure in general, but it is a very special monument by which India’s glory has increased in the minds of the tourists of the world. Therefore, I believe that it is going to be a special trip or visit for all those visitors who want to know how beautifully a monument can be constructed and taken care of for a long, long time and even for the future generations to come.
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I’m Mohammad Zahid Hussain, a Content Writer, Spoken English, IELTS and PTE Trainer. I’m also a Professional English-Hindi and Hindi-English Translator, Editor and Proofreader. I’m a graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia University, and I’m here to share my articles on a wide range of topics to help you enhance your insights into various things to provide you with factual information and creative analysis.
