How many of you know the story of the Taj Mahal? Or Do you want to know more about the Taj Mahal? Don’t worry we will help you out by providing accurate information, keep reading you will enhance your General knowledge.
The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage”.
Taj Mahal is one of the wonders of the world and becomes a part of UNESCO in 1983 and it is a marble mausoleum which is a symbol of Shah Jahan’s love for his late third wife Mumtaz Mahal.
This monument is the symbol of the Muslim rule and the Muslim era of India. This totally falls under the category of Muslim Art. This monument has worldwide fame which led to its ultimate place in the Seven Wonders of the World.
The beauty of the Taj Mahal is breath-taking and it is definitely one of the archaeological masterpieces of the world.
History and True Story of Taj Mahal
Shah Jahan was one of the best Mughal rulers India ever witnessed. His reign was the most peaceful Mughal period ever.
Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 during the birth of a beautiful daughter “Gauhara Begum”, she was their 14th child.
The death of his favorite wife left Shah Jahan grief-stricken and therefore at the starting of 1631 Shah Jahan ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal to begin.
This is the reason why the Taj Mahal is considered to be a highly romantic place because it is said to be inspired by the love of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz.
The layout of Taj is said to be similar to other Mughal Buildings of that era like Jama Masjid, Humayun’s Tomb, etc. They are all based on part Persian and part Mughal architecture.
One major difference that Taj Mahal had when compared with other Mughal Buildings was that it was made of pure white marble instead of Red Stone.
Red Fort or Lal Qila is a very famous Mughal building which is made of red stone. The sad fact related to the Taj Mahal is that as soon as it was completed Shah Jahan’s son took over the throne and threw his father in prison. Although after his death he was buried next to his wife as per his request.
The construction was started after planning the structure in the year 1631 onward with a big project by having almost 20,000 workers and there were required a lot of huge materials required hence they used nearly 1000 elephants for transportation.
The style of the structure was decided by mixing up Indian, Islamic and Persian architecture and the main attractive part is it was totally built with pure white marble with four pillars and decorated with precious stones, the walls were decorated with the calligraphy style of art which looks really good.
The tomb itself took about 12 years to complete but still, the work remained, the surroundings of the taj were filled with nice garden and bought the reflections from the water flow to the straight to the Mahal.
In addition to that with the efforts of 10 more years minarets, mosque, and a gateway was built, totally it took 22 years to complete the project. It is estimated that the Taj Mahal took over 32 Million Indian Rupees for the construction work.
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Architecture
The main Taj Mahalbuilding is surrounded by 890 square feet of land which is more popularly known as the Mughal Garden or the Charbagh.
At the center of the garden, there is a raised water tank made of marble which is said to reflect the pure white image of the Taj Mahal.
The garden itself is a beautiful place with exotic flower beds, fountains, and trees everywhere. The Garden is divided into four parts each leading to sunken flower beds.
Shah Jahan was crazy about symmetry and therefore the whole architecture shows symmetry in every aspect. The Taj Mahal is surrounded by red stone walls on all sides.
Information of Taj Mahal
Location – Agra, Uttar Pradesh
Founded By – Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan
Founded In – 1631-1648
Entombs – Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan
Area – 42 acres
Timing Open from – 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (Friday closed; open for offering prayer in the mosque between 12 Noon to 2 P.M.)
Tickets
Foreign tourist 1000/-
Citizens of SAARC and BIMSTEC Countries 530/-
Domestic/Indian 40/-
Domestic and Foreigner children under age 15 No Entry Fee
Official Website – www.tajmahal.gov.in/ticketing.html
Status One of the Seven Wonders of the World UNESCO World Heritage Site.
General Knowledge Questions of Taj Mahal
1. Who built the Taj Mahal?
Ans: Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan Built Taj Mahal in 1631.
2. In which city Taj Mahal was built?
Ans: Taj Mahal was built in the city of Agra(Uttar Pradesh) India.
3. Which is the material used to construct the Taj Mahal?
Ans: White marble is used in the construction of the entire structure.
4. How many years took place to build the main tomb of the Taj Mahal?
Ans: It took 12 years to build the main tomb of the Taj Mahal.
5. Say True or False – Does the Taj Mahal is one of the wonders of the world?
Ans: Yes, the Taj Mahal is considered one of the wonders of the world.
6. When does the night viewing allowed to see the Taj Mahal?
Ans: The night of the full moon day and 2 nights after the full moon day.
7. Why was the Taj Mahal built?
Ans: Taj Mahal was built on the memory of Mumtaz Mahal’s death in 1631.
8. How wide is the Taj Mahal?
Ans: It covers 73 m, the length is 186 feet, and the height is 213 feet.
Taj Mahal Inside
Facts About Taj Mahal
a) Almost 60,000 people visit the Taj Mahal every day to see the world’s best iconic monument, even it’s a place for many people to do business and live their life by taking pictures of families and giving them back instantly and the guides explaining about the place and more.
b) The river was explained by the people like water in heaven before but unfortunately, the river is almost dead due to the pollution made by the people.
And industries which indirectly causing effects on Taj and many fear that over the few upcoming years of the time the Taj Mahal may sink or minarets may bend towards one side.
The main reason is pollution and dryness of the river, even because it’s white marble and many tourist visits every single day, this is also considered for pollution.
c) The place of graves of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz is an emotional center for many people but the fact is those are not real ones all fake, hidden from crowds there is a chamber 20m feet below is the real resting place of both of them, common people are not allowed to see.
The grave is fully decorated with calligraphy writing and flowers with precious stones but even there some stones are missing which has been replaced, before times people were using the knife and taking off the stones for that reason symbolically constructed in the above surface of their graves.
d) There are toilets available for visitors for both Indians and Foreigners separately.
e) People not knowing many facts in that one of them is even the minarets has the steps inside to reach the top but not allowed to the people to see, the places will be accessed by the scientific people by taking permission to form the Government.
f) People think that the entire structure of the Taj was built in marble but the fact is, it has been constructed with normal bricks traditional way later fascinated with the white marble and fixed with iron screws.
The joints leaking between the bricks and marble causing the Taj Mahal by cracks across the monument and has to be all the time monitoring and filling up the gaps.
g) The people who came for the work on the Taj in the 17th century even today some of the descendants are working for it, but only a few are allowed to repair the sacred place to restore.
h) Some people say there was a plan to build the black Taj Mahal too and the worker’s hands are cut off after finishing the work, these are just myths there are no records officially found for the claims.
i) The crown on the top of the tomb was the gold but it has been removed at the ruling of the British.
Steps Taken To Protect The Taj Mahal By Government
1) There is a big challenge for the police and military to give protection for tourist as well as Taj Mahal monument if some terrorist enters also they can’t fire in the public because it may hurt to other common public, a very risky job they have and even they monitor from the cameras in all the four directions.
2) There is 181 paramilitary force and having explosion detection systems additionally, snipper dogs are kept, and people come to see with sentimental values but because of the security restrictions, they have to follow the rules.
After the Mumbai Taj attack, the security check has been tightened more like checking in an airport.
