Amazing Facts About Tajmahal-History of Tajmahal

HistoryMumtaz and Shah Jehan were married in 1612 A.D  had 14 children together. The Empress Mumtaz used to accompany her husband in his military campaigns, and it was  in Burhanpur in 1630, that she gave birth to her last child, after which she died. So great was the Shah Jahan's love for his wife Mumtaz, that he ordered the building of the most beautiful mausoleum on Earth for her, The Taj Mahal.   

As soon as construction work began in early 1630, sculptors, masons, craftsmen, and calligraphers were called from Persia, Ottoman Empire and Europe to work on construction of the Taj.

The architectural complex of the Taj Mahal comprises of five main elements: the Darwaza or main gateway, the Bageecha or garden, the Masjid or mosque, the Naqqar Khana or rest house, and the Rauza or the Taj Mahal mausoleum. 
The actual Tomb of Mumtaz is situated inside the Taj. The unique moghal style architecture combines elements & styles of Persian, Central Asian, and Islamic architecture. Most striking are the black and white chessboard marble floor, the four tall minarets (40 m high) at the corners of the structure, and the majestic grand dome in the middle. 
 On closer inspection, the lettering of the Holy Quran verses around the archways appear to be uniform. The lettering spacing and density has been customized to give this impression to the viewer. The impressive pietra dura artwork includes geometric elements & style, plants & flowers, which are common in Islamic architecture. The level of sophistication in artwork includes a 3 cm decorative element containing more than 50 inlaid gemstones. INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TAJMAHAL


1. Taj Mahal appears pink in the morning, white in the day and changes its color to golden in the moon light.

 

2. The pillars surrounding Taj Mahal are slightly tilted outwards so that in the event of an earthquake they will fall away from the tomb.

 3. An identical Taj Mahal was supposed to be built in black marble instead of white. The base of it can still be seen across the river.

 4. Over 1,000 elephant were used to transport building materials during the construction.

 5. In all, 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.

 6. The Taj Mahal in India is perfectly symmetrical, except for one thing. The two tombs inside are not equal in size. This is because the male tomb has to be larger than the female tomb.

 7. The Taj Mahal costs in today’s money about US $100 million.

 8. It took 22 years and 22,000 people to complete the Taj Mahal.

 9. Twenty thousand workers were employed for the construction work of the Taj Mahal.

 10. Emperor ordered to chop off the hands of the workers who had constructed the Taj Mahal so no one could make anything like it.