Taj Mahal the Epitome of Love, Mumtaj Mahal the Inspiration Behind

The beauty of Taj Mahal can not be described in words, that’s why an English poet Edwin Arnold preferred to say Taj “Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passion of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones.” Throughout the year, tourist all over the world visit Taj, watch the beauty and feel the intensity of love and leave the site with their heart filled with love and inspiration. And even after centuries, Taj Mahal `the epitome of love`, `the pinnacle of Mughal architecture` stands proudly to narrate the story of the great love that inspired the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to commence the construction of this all time greatest monument.

Location

Taj Mahal is located in Agra, (Utter Pradesh in India). It is on the right bank of river Yamuna and is centered in a beautiful garden. The grand mausoleum includes a main gateway, garden, and water device, a mosque and a rest house surrounded by a large wall. The whole structure spreads over a large area of 42 acres and is considered one of the seven wonders of world. In 1983 it became a UNESCO world heritage site.

Construction and Architecture

The construction of Taj began in 1631 and finally completed in 1653. It took 20 to 22 years and nearly 20, 000 artisans and 1,000 elephants were deployed in the work. According to a court historian Abdul Hamid Lahori( in his book Badshah Namah), a network of wells was laid down along the river line and was filled with stones and other solid materials in order to lay a strong foundation of this grand mausoleum. The chief architect of Taj was a Persian named Ustad Isha Khan (a well known architect of his time) who was assisted by other architects to make Taj Mahal a profound fusion of Persian, Turkish, Indian and Islamic architecture. To make it most gorgeous architectural piece, as many as 28 precious and semi-precious stones were used in the ornamentation with their best combination. But the thing, dominantly used in ornamentation was the famous snow white marble that was found in Makrana (Rajasthan). Other semi- precious stones for inlay ornamentation were brought from distant region of India, Ceylon and Afghanistan. Red sand stones of different tints that constitute the base were requisitioned from neighboring quarries of Sikri, Dholpur etc, jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China, turquoise from Tibet, lapis lazuli and sapphire from Arabia and diamonds from Panna. Over all, so exquisite is the workmanship that it is said “having been designed by the giants and finished by jewelers“.

Although, regarding the state affairs, the construction of Taj was not appreciated by all, because the emperor drained almost thirty-two million rupees only after a single construction and at a time when both the state economy and the external aggression needed the complete attention. Besides, it is also said that the emperor ordered to chop off the hands of artisans so that they could never work for another construction equal or similar to Taj Mahal. That’s why many historians and thinker felt grieved like the great poet Ravindra Nath Tagore who described Taj- `A tear drop on the cheek of time`.