A comprehensive facts of Taj Mahal (Agra-India)

India’s most emblematic monument, the Taj Mahal, is probably one of the best known structures in the world. Built in white marble by Emperor Shah Jahan, in memory of his wife Mumtaz after her death, the Taj Mahal is famous world over as the monument of love.

Shah Jahan was a member of the Mughal dynasty that ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid 18th-century. After the death of his father, King Jahangir, in 1627, Shah Jahan emerged the victor of a bitter power struggle with his brothers, and crowned himself emperor at Agra in 1628.

Basic Facts

• Taj Mahal is located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
• The four minarets are each 120 feet high. They all lean out slightly, to compensate for the height and to make them look perfectly straight. In the event of an earthquake, they would also fall away from the main building
• Coordinates 27.174799°N 78.042111°E
• Elevation is 171 m (561 ft)
• Built  from 1632 to1653.
• Architect of Taj Mahal "Ustad Ahmad Lahauri"
• Architectural style(s) is Mughal architecture
• Taj Mahal is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Friday (when it's closed for prayer). The Taj Mahal is also open for moonlight viewing from 8.30 p.m. until 12.30 a.m., two days before and after each full moon
• Visitation More than 3 million (in 2003)

Facts about Exterior decoration

• The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. Throughout the complex, passages from the Qur'an are used as decorative elements. The texts refer to themes of judgment and include: 

Surah 36 – Ya Sin, Surah 39 – The Crowds, Surah 48 – Victory, Surah 67 – Dominion, Surah 77 – Those Sent Forth, Surah 81 – The Folding Up, Surah 82 – The Cleaving Asunder, Surah 84 – The Rending Asunder, Surah 89 – Daybreak, Surah 91 – The Sun, Surah 93 – Morning Light, Surah 94 – The Solace, Surah 95 – The Fig, Surah 98 – The Evidence, Surah 112 – The Purity of Faith

• The calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you."
• At different times of the day the Taj Mahal appears to be in a different colour. Some believe that these changing colours depict the changing moods of a woman (appears pink in the morning, white in the day and changes its color to golden in the moon light.).

Architecture & Construction Facts

• The name of the architect of the Taj Mahal is Ahmed Lahauri.
• The architecture of the Taj Mahal is a combination of Indian, Persian and Islamic styles of architecture.
• The construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632 and was completed in 1653. It took a total of twenty two years to complete the construction of this monument.
• Around 20,000 people worked day and night for twenty two years to complete construction of the Taj Mahal.
• The marble used in its construction was carried to the site on the backs of 1,000 elephants.
• Almost 30 types of precious stones were set into the white marble. Although many of these have been stolen over the centuries, the holes are still there.
• The Taj Mahal was constructed using the best quality marble from Rajasthan, Tibet, Afghanistan and China.
• The four minarets of the Taj Mahal have been constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in case the minarets fell, they would fall away and not on the main structure.
• The marble dome was originally covered with gold. It is 115 feet in height and is sometimes called an onion dome because of its distinctive shape.
• The Taj Mahal’s main gate was built from red sandstone. It is 30 feet high and decorated with verses from the Holy Book, The Holy Quran, in Arabic.
• The actual graves of the emperor and his wife can never be seen by vistors to the monument. They are buried about 7 feet under the ground.
• By the late 19th century, the Taj Mahal had been defaced by the British soldiers who chiseled out precious stones from the walls of the monument. At the end of the 19th century, British Viceroy, Lord Curzon, ordered a restoration of the monument and also gifted a large lamp which hangs in the interior chambers of the Taj Mahal.
• Popular myth around the Taj Mahal is that after the construction of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan cut off the hands of all the workers so that such a structure could not be built again. Fortunately, this is not true.

  

construction map of Taj Mahal

Description of above image;

1. The 'moonlight garden' to the north of the river Yamuna.

2. The riverfront terrace, containing the Mausoleum, Mosque and Jawab.

3. The Charbagh garden containing pavilions.

4. The jilaukhana containing accommodation for the tomb attendants and two subsidiary tombs.

5. The Taj Ganji, originally a bazaar and caravanserai only traces of which are still preserved. The great gate lies between the jilaukhana and the garden.

Levels gradually descend in steps from the Taj Ganji towards the river. Contemporary descriptions of the complex list the elements in order from the river terrace towards the Taj Ganji.


Financial Facts
The cost of construction of the Taj Mahal was around Rs.320 million.



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