The Taj Mahal

Type Mausoleum

Initiator Shah Jahan

Constructor Ustad Ahmad Lahauri

Construction 1631-1653

Proprietary Indian Republic

Inscription UNESCO World Heritage

since 1983
Visitors 7 000 000/year

Location: Agra, India

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in India, in the city of Agra. The emblematic
monument of this country is finely chiseled in white marble. It was built between 1631 and
1653 under the command of Shah Jahan in order to shelter the tomb of his wife, Mumtaz
Mahal, who died in childbirth during the delivery of their 14th child. The Taj Mahal is a
marvel of Mughal architecture, at the crossroads of Islamic, Iranian, Persian and Indian styles.
The Taj Mahal has been able to pass through history without suffering any particular damage,
which makes it possible to admire it nowadays as it was at its construction. If the mausoleum
is the best known, it is not necessary to reduce this monument to this marble construction, the
Taj Mahal is in fact a set of buildings, gardens, lakes and fountains with perfectly organized
symmetry contained in a rectangular ground of 580 by 305 meters. It includes two mosques,
one of which is unused because it is not oriented towards Mecca, symmetry obligatory, three
Iranian-style gates, three red brick buildings, a central fountain and four bodies of water
organized in a cross. The Taj Mahal is visited annually by 7 million visitors, making it the
most visited monument in India. It is also the most famous monument in India, and its
symbol, such as the Statue of Liberty is for the United States, the Eiffel Tower for France, or
the statue of Christ the Redeemer for Brazil.

FACTS

1. The Taj Mahal was built by a whopping 22,000 laborers, painters, stonecutters, embroidery
artists.

2. Legend has it that Emperor Shah Jahan intended to build another Taj Mahal in black marble
across the river but a war with his sons interrupted these plans.

3. The changing moods of the Emperors wife are well captured by the changing hues of the
Mausoleum at different times of the day. It takes a pinkish hue in the morning, milky white in
the evening and golden at night when illuminated by moonlight.

4.The most recognizable feature is the white dome at the peak of the mausoleum. Often called
the 'onion dome', it rises to about 35 meters and is surrounded by four other domes.

5.It is rumored that the Emperor ordered that all the workers who worked on the mausoleum
get their hands chopped of so that no one could make anything like it ever again.

6. The materials that were used to build Taj Mahal were transported to the construction site by
a whopping 1,000 elephants.

7. Many of the precious stones on the mausoleum were ripped off from the walls of the
mausoleum by the British army during the Indian rebellion of 1857.