Taj Mahal description and photos - India: Agra (Topic)

Taj Mahal description and photos - India: Agra. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. Title in English - Taj Mahal.

Photo and description

One of the most wonderful creations of human hands, a place that annually attracts millions of people from all over the world - the majestic and beautiful Taj Mahal - is rightfully a real symbol of India.

History of construction

Taj Mahal is an amazing snow-white structure, which was built as a tomb for the third and beloved wife of the great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan Mumtaz Mahal, on the banks of the Jamna River in Agra. Despite the large harem, the emperor loved Mumtaz Mahal most of all. She bore him thirteen children, and died in 1631, at the birth of the fourteenth. The ruler grieved greatly after the death of his beloved wife, so he ordered to gather the most skilled craftsmen of that time to create a mausoleum, which would become a symbol of his endless love for Mumtaz. Construction began in 1632 and lasted over 20 years: the main complex was completed by 1648, while the secondary buildings and garden were completed five years later. Guri-Amir, the mausoleum of Tamerlane, the founder of the dynasty of Mughal rulers, located in Samarkand, the Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi, as well as the tomb of Humayun, one of the Mughal rulers, became a kind of "prototypes" of this grand tomb.

Taj Mahal is made in traditional Persian style and is a complex of luxurious and majestic structures built of white marble. The main place in it is occupied by the mausoleum itself, located in the center of the site. It has the shape of a cube with cut corners and is crowned with a huge dome. The structure stands on a square "pedestal" with high minarets at its four corners. The mausoleum inside has a large number of rooms and halls, decorated with amazing mosaics, painted with delicate patterns and ornate ornaments. In one of these rooms, the coffin of Mumtaz Mahal is located. And next to him is the coffin of Shah Jahan himself, who wished after death to be buried next to his beloved. Initially, the ruler was going to build an exact copy of the tomb on the other side of the Jamnah for himself, only from black marble, but he failed to bring his idea to life, so he bequeathed to bury himself in the Taj Mahal next to his wife. But it is worth noting that both of these coffins are empty, and the real burial place is in an underground crypt.

Initially, the mausoleum was decorated with a huge number of precious and semi-precious stones, pearls, and its main door was made of pure silver. But, unfortunately, until our time, all these treasures have practically not survived, "settled" in the pockets of not very honest "tourists".

On three sides, the Taj Mahal is surrounded by a beautiful park, the gate to which is also an architectural masterpiece. Through the park, roads leading along a wide canal lead to the main entrance. And on both sides of the mausoleum there are two mosques.

Translated from Persian, "Taj Mahal" means "the crown of all palaces." And it is truly “the pearl of Muslim art in India and one of the world's recognized masterpieces of the world heritage.”

The Taj Mahal was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983.

It is also worth noting that officially tourists are allowed to take pictures of the Taj Mahal only from one side - opposite the main entrance.

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Topic: Taj Mahal description and photos - India: Agra.