TAJ MAHAL; STORY OF LOVE

The Taj Mahal is considered, the best piece of the Mughal architecture, one of the most beautiful buildings and obviously one of the seven marvels of the modern world.

It was built as a mausoleum for the wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Mumtaz Mahal was the apple of Shah Jahan´s eye, but she died in the childbirth of her 14^th son. Therefore the emperor fell into depression and he began to build the Taj Mahal as a tribute, as a symbol of his love.

The Taj Mahal was built between 1631 and 1654 in the city of Agra, India, on the river Jumna. More than 20,000 workers built the elaborately designed mausoleum. Materials were brought from across India and Asia on the backs of 1000 elephants.

Its name means Crown Palace and it’s a variation of Princess Mumtaz Mahal´s name. But the true crown of this palace is the marble dome that rises 240 feet in the air. The total cost would top 700 million of dollars of today´s money also we can´t forget that this building is a lesson in geometry, everything is symmetrical.

The Taj Mahal is surrounded by many beautiful gardens with a lot of flowers, it has a small pond which reflects the building, and marble trails. It is finely carved, the building is octagonal, and it has white marble with precious stones carved like flowers, with quotations from the Koran.

Shan Jahan thought of building a similar building but with black marble, in front of the Taj Mahal but crossing the river, to connect the 2 graves with a bridge. But his project was interrupted by one of his sons who sent him to jail. He only enjoyed the gorgeous view of his wife´s mausoleum in his last days.

It´s important to say that nowadays the Taj Mahal is being preserved by many people with big efforts because weather, animals, and tourism are affecting this building. Also there is too much security because unfortunately the building has received many threats from terrorists.