The Taj Mahal ('Crown of the Palace') is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra , Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (1628–1658) to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643, but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around ₹32 million, which in 2023 would be approximately ₹35 billion.The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the emperor's court architect. Various types of symbolism have been employed in the Taj to reflect natural beauty and divinity.
The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts 7-8 million visitors a year, and in 2007 it was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World (2000–2007) initiative.
Mystery of Taj Mahal :
According to a popular legend, Shah Jahan wanted desperately for the mausoleum to be an exquisite masterpiece without an equal. To ensure no one could recreate the Taj Mahal’s beauty, Shah Jahan supposedly severed the hands and gouged the eyes of the artisans and craftsmen. Despite the prevalence of this gruesome tale, historians have found no evidence to support the story—though it does heighten the drama of the romantic tragedy.
Hidden Passageways: The Taj Mahal is said to have hidden passageways and chambers that were constructed to provide escape routes for the royal family in case of emergency. These passages are still largely unexplored.
Changing Colors: The white marble of the Taj Mahal appears to change color with the time of day. It can appear pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening, and golden under the moonlight.
Precious Gems: The Taj Mahal is adorned with precious and semi-precious stones. It is said that some of these gems were looted during the 1857 Indian Mutiny, and some of them remain missing.
Architectural Precision: The Taj Mahal is known for its remarkable architectural precision. The minarets surrounding the main tomb are slightly tilted outwards, so in the event of an earthquake, they would fall away from the main structure to protect it.
Mysterious Black Taj Mahal: Legend has it that Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife Mumtaz, had planned to construct a black marble mausoleum for himself, the "Black Taj Mahal," but it was never realized.
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