Waah Taj..!!

Day 2,290, 22:59 • Published in India Bosnia and Herzegovina • by Vishroid

Hello all,

I would like to share my few visits to Te Taj Mahal.
This article is for Indo-Bulgarian Media Contest.
My first visit to Taj Mahal as on 12-Aug-2010, with my father and uncles.

I was very eager to see this world famous monument, and this was the first picture which i took after entering the Taj.

The image quality is low as it was taken from Nokia 2700 Classic.

The entrance to Taj, majestic as well.



During this time span of my stay in Agra, i came to know about various myths and facts related to Taj Mahal.

Myths
- Shah Jahan planned to built another copy of Taj Mahal, for himself, with black marble.
- A number of items such as diamonds, a gold leaf which covered the part of the dome, a pearl blanket etc that were originally a part of the Taj were stolen.
- One such myth is that Taj Mahal was once a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and known by the name of 'Tejo Mahalya', seized by Shah Jahan.

Facts
- The Taj Mahal costs in today’s money about US $100 million.
- The pillars surrounding Taj Mahal are slightly tilted outwards so that in the event of an earthquake they will fall away from the tomb.
- In all, 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.
- For the transportation of the construction materials, more than 1,000 elephants were employed.
- Passages from Quran have been used as decorative elements throughout the complex.
- Many precious stones and Lapis Lazuli (a semi-precious stone) were ripped off from its walls by the Britishers during the Indian rebellion of 1857.
- Different types of marbles used in construction of Taj Mahal were brought over from many different regions & countries: Rajasthan, Punjab, China, Tibet, Afghanistan, Srilanka, & Arabia.
- Despite being the creation of a Mughal (Moghul)l king, the architecture of Taj Mahal was globally inspired. It's a fusion of Persian, Central Asian and Islamic architecture.

Near Taj mahal, there is Agra Fort.
At the end of his life, Shah Jahan was deposed and restrained by his son, Aurangzeb, in the fort. The palace which he lived in Fort is known as Shahjanahi Mahal. Taj mahal can be clearly seen from the Shahjahani Mahal, where Shah Jahan died watching his masterpiece, Taj Mahal.


View from Shahjahani Mahal.

Regards,
Vishroid