TAJ MAHAL -SYMBOL OF LOVE

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Ottoman, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was griefstricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child,Gauhara Begum. In her dying breath, Mumtaz Mahal urged Shah Jahan to build a mausoleum for her that the world has never seen before.

The complex is set around a large 300-meter square charbagh, a Mughal garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken or flowerbeds.

The Taj Mahal complex is bounded by crenellated red sandstone walls on three sides with river-facing side open.

The Taj Mahal was built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the center of in exchange for the land. An area of roughly three acres was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage and leveled at 50 meters above riverbank.

Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the Taj Mahal next to his wife.

The Taj Mahal attracts from 2 to 4 million visitors annually, with more than 200,000 from overseas. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February.

Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses to the building have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument.

source:www.wikipedia.org

By
L.Devanand
Pre-Final year,CSE.