Taj Mahal History

Taj Mahal - the timeless beauty of power, pain and love needs no introduction. Build high in white marble stone, this masterpiece of architecture is gem to the crown of India. Its nook and corner carries the magic of attracting people from different corners of the world. This magnificent monument in Agra, Uttar Pradesh is a fine exampler of Mughal love and heritage. Renowned poets, painters, musicians and dramatist has put their toilsome effort to capture its beauty in their creative works.

Since the later half of 17th century, the monument began to receive great attention of travelers all over the world. Till date, tourist with the help of Taj Mahal Tour Package, take pleasure to visit the love epitome, all through out the year. Also, a number of art galleries, books and exhibition hall started to display picture of Taj Mahal, henceforth pumping up the desire to digg out the hidden history of Taj Mahal.

Taj Mahal Symbolizes- The Glorious Love Story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal

The white-marble monument - Taj Mahal was constructed between the year between 1631 to 1653 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. According to history, the Emperor of Agra built the marble tomb in the memory of his beloved wife, Arjumand Bano Begum. Evidences of eternal love can be found inside the Mahal, where the tomb of Shah Jahan and his wife has been created close to each other.

Shahab Uddin Muhammad Shah Jahan I aka Shah Jahan was born in the year 1592. The Prince of Khurram was the fifth Mughal ruler after Babur, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir. History says that, Arjumand Banu Begum(Mumtaz Mahal) was the daughter of his father's (Jahangir) Prime Minister, Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan. She was so beautiful and was religiously a Shi'a Muslim.

One fine day, the prince of Khurram met her at a bazaar and was smitten at her graceful look. He was at the age of 14, while Arjumand was 15, when their love started to fill the aura. Shah Jahan made up his mind and heart to marry her and hence, bought a diamond for his beloved girl-friend, which worth Rs 10, 000 rupees. He kept the marriage proposal before Mumtaz's father and on 10th May 1612, they got tied up in a sacred relationship.

In AD 1628, the Prince of Khurram succeeded the Kingdom and received the name-Shah Jahan or King of the World. He showered love and respect to his beloved and titled her with the name- Mumtaz Mahal. Despite the fact, that Mumtaz was the third wife of the Shah Jahan, she was the love of his life. But, she was not destined to live with the King forever.

As always, in the year 1631, Shah Jahan went for a trip to the South and Mumtaz Mahal accompanied him on his way. But, at Burhanpur, she died while giving birth to 14th children of the King. Unfortunately, of the fourteen children, only four sons and three daughter survived. Mumtaz got married to Shah Jahan at her age of 19 and soon, at the early age of 34, the journey of her life ended up. The lose of love in life was so hard that Shah Jahan continued mourning for two years. He was inconsolable and departed himself from royal style of living.

The Beginning of Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan was a great lover and a passionate builder. His ruling period was the golden era of Mughal architecture. After the death of his beloved Mumtaz, he decided to fulfill the three promises, that she whispered before her last breathe. One of the three promises was to dedicate a monument, which would symbolize their love forever. He then, made up his mind to erect a memorial to his queen- Taj Mahal, which stands out of any kind of its comparison in the entire world.

In 1633, the work for the monument began on the bank of the Yamuna river. About 20, 000 workers spent their day and night to construct each section of Taj Mahal. It was a big challenge to erect the white marble tomb and after the hard-core labor for 17 years, the building took its ultimate shape and size. Each minute corner of the Mahal represents the excellent craftsmanship of skilled architects, calligraphers, stone-carvers and masons from Persia, Turkey and all over India.

Taj Mahal has been designed intricately with semi-precious stones, including white marble brought from Makrana (Rajasthan), yellow marble and rockspar from the shorelines of Narmada river, black marble from Charkoh and red sandstone from Sikri. For the decoration of 'Pietra Dura', finest gemstones, crystals and sapphires where collected from China, Lapis, Lazuli, Sri Lanka, Punjab, Baghdad and Tibet. Also, other precious materials like corals was brought from Arabia, amethyst from Persia and garnets from Bundelkhand. Till today, tourists can find find ornamentations on the final resting place of Mumtaz Mahal.

Myth Behind Taj Mahal

Although, the story behind Taj Mahal has been well versed in history books and archaic documents, some questions behind its construction are still left unanswered. The queries about the designers of Taj Mahal yet lingers on to get solve. The chronicles of time has mentioned the name of a few chief architect, that included Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmed Lahwari. Ustad Ahmed Lahori is said to have designed the Jama Masjid in Delhi. Also, it is said that, after completion of the architectural wonder, Shah Jahan ordered to cut off the right hand of its chief mason. Mythic saga indicates that Shah Jahan kept the desire to built another Taj Mahal across the river, designed entirely of black marble.