The visit to incredible India cannot be complete while not experiencing its most spectacular piece of design -- the Taj Mahal, literally 'the Crown Palace'. Its curving, gently swelling dome and the square base upon that its rests thus gently, surrounded by four lofty minarets, is a familiar image in many travel brochures and travelogues on India. This picture card image of the Taj, as it is lovingly referred to as, does very little justice to the legend, the poetry and the romance woven into its history. Its beauty is eternal. It overawes, it mesmerizes, and it inspires. The Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore competently describes it as, 'a teardrop on the cheek of time'.
Who designed it and why? The history of this famed monument is as fascinating as its discipline brilliance. The story goes that the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, reigning over India in the fifteenth century, was married to Begum Arjumand Banu, better legendary as the gorgeous Mumtaz Mahal. It was a match made in heaven and also the emperor, smitten by true love, never let the queen out of his sight. He even took her on all his military campaigns! She bore him fourteen children, but, to his grief, died during parturition. Emperor Shah Jehan was ravaged and needed to preserve the mortal remains of his everlasting love for posterity. The monument he built in the memory of Mumtaz Mahal was of such exquisite beauty and class that these days it's counted amongst the seven wonders of the traditional world. As a mausoleum, it remains unmatched upon this earth; few mortal remains have ever been enshrined in greater grandeur. How was it built? This architectural marvel, designed by the Iranian architect Ustad Isa, was not built long. With no machines, modern tools or transport, it required a laborious labor of over twenty thousand workmen and master craftsmen to carve it out of stone and pure white marble. This top grade marble, brought from all over India and Central Asia, required a fleet of over thousand elephants to transport it to the positioning. Little surprise it took twenty-two years to build this marvel! The aesthetic sense of its creators and also the talent of its stone carvers could be a testimony to the good culture of Ancient India. Why is it so great? The moment you step inside the most erinaceous rock entree into the premises of the advanced, you are possible to prevent dead in your tracks, awestruck as you initial lay eyes on the Taj. This glistening virgin white structure, with its bulbous white dome mounted like a assets, along with its tapering minarets, is sure to require your breath away. Though it appearance tiny and faraway, it actually stands solely a very little over 9 hundred feet at the opposite finish of the most entrance. This clever optical trick is no coincidence, but deliberately designed to enhance the charm of the monument. The path from the most gateway to the monument is adorned with well arranged out gardens on each side and an extended water channel within the middle that reflects the Taj Mahal altogether its glory. As you approach the mausoleum, it appears to grow in size. The dome, especially, seems to expand, almost as if it were being slowly inflated. You realize the actual size of the building only if you reach the bottom. And what a colossus it turns out to be! Towering nearly 200 feet in air, it looks majestic. The four minarets, each over a hundred feet tall with elegant windowed cupolas, rise up from the corners of this plinth, giving the monument its characteristic look that continues to endear it to the world. The entry to the marble mausoleum is through its south-side portal. And as you approach it, you cannot help however notice its wealthy elaborations and elaborate workmanship. The arches of the portal are value a look. The floral arabesques fashioned from gemstones and decorated in white marble stand in stark distinction to the inscriptions from the religious writing, impressively decorated in the black marble. For the Muslims, these inscriptions are the word of God as disclosed to Prophet Mahomet. Those with a discerning eye would be amazed to realize the letters of the inscription maintain a uniform size from the lowest to the highest, although the prime of the arch is over hundred feet tall! How? Well, it is another optical trick that ancient calligraphers have performed with amazing experience. They created this illusion by gradually increasing the size of the letters in relevance the gap from the attention. This ingenious trompe l'oeil effect is to be seen to be believed! On crossing the portal, you immediately step into a spacious central chamber, octagonal in form. All around this chamber are 2 stories of eight interconnected rooms. In the days of yore, mullahs or the Muslim clerics chanted the religious writing and royal musicians compete soft melodies from these rooms. At first look, everything inside the vaulted sepulture appearance deceivingly easy, an epitome of incomparable purity and simplicity. But, on closer review, the elaborate design slowly reveals itself. The central chamber houses 2 tombs. In the center is that the jewel-inlaid tomb of Queen Mumtaz Mahal and to its facet is that the casket of Emperor Shah of Iran Jehan. The emperor's casket is out of alignment because it was not catered for within the preliminary style, being an afterthought. The two tombs, though spectacular, are not original. The actual ones are right beneath within the basement and you'll be able to see them. This was probably done to give privacy to the enshrined. The refined inlays and rich surface details seen on the tombs and encompassing structures, echoes the fine quality of this monument. However, it is the superb manner during which all the weather mix along and harmonize that the majority clearly brings to fore the good skills of its creators. To get an inspiration of the aesthetics and fine craftsmanship of the Taj's interiors, you just got to consider the marble partition that encloses the 2 tombs. This fine mesh partition, carved out of a single piece of marble is decorated with precious and semi-precious stones. To show its full magnificence, the tour guide usually places a electric lamp on one facet of this mesh and makes the decorated gems gleam in myriad hues, spreading a surreal radiance all around. Little surprise this monument is same to own been 'built by Titans and finished by jewelers'! What is its magic? The Taj Mahal mesmerizes. And it is not only the tempting style and its interiors that charm, but conjointly its impressive backcloth that manifests the varied moods of the monument. The backdrop, provided by the vast plains of watercourse Yamuna, and the colors of nature offer this monument a fascinating look. It acquires a pinkish hue below the initial rays of the morning sun; seems whitish white below the obvious afternoon sun; and is about ablaze in golden tints by the setting sun. However, it is the moonlight that brings its real beauty to the fore, making it sparkle like a diamond, as the embedded precious stones catch the glint of the moonlight. This monument of eternal love continues to inspire lovers and poets down the ages. According to the poet, "the Taj Mahal isn't a bit of architecture, as other buildings square measure, but the proud passions of associate emperor's love shaped in living stones". Read our other blogs are Unravel the romance with Taj Mahal tour packages Taj Mahal Tour Packages
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