Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra, India. Taj Mahal was constructed over a period of twenty-two years, employing twenty thousand workers. It stands on a raised, square platform (186 x 186 feet) with its four corners truncated, forming an unequal octagon. Taj Mahal India - Located at Agra in Uttar Pradesh, the Taj Mahal is one of the most splendid masterpieces of architecture in the world. It was Emperor Shah Jehan who ordered the building of the Taj Mahal, in honor of his beloved wife, Arjumand Banu who was later known as Mumtaz Mahal, which means, the Distinguished of the Palace. Taj Mahal History : Mumtaz and Shah Jehan were married in 1612 A.D had 14 children together. The Empress Mumtaz used to accompany her husband in his military campaigns, and it was in Burhanpur in 1630, that she gave birth to her last child, after which she died. So great was the Shah Jahan's love for his wife Mumtaz, that he ordered the building of the most beautiful mausoleum on Earth for her, The Taj Mahal. As soon as construction work began in early 1630, sculptors, masons, craftsmen, and calligraphers were called from Persia, Ottoman Empire and Europe to work on construction of the Taj. The architectural complex of the Taj Mahal comprises of five main elements: the Darwaza or main gateway, the Bageecha or garden, the Masjid or mosque, the Naqqar Khana or rest house, and the Rauza or the Taj Mahal mausoleum. The actual Tomb of Mumtaz is situated inside the Taj. The unique moghal style architecture combines elements & styles of Persian, Central Asian, and Islamic architecture. Most striking are the black and white chessboard marble floor, the four tall minarets (40 m high) at the corners of the structure, and the majestic grand dome in the middle. On closer inspection, the lettering of the Holy Quran verses around the archways appear to be uniform. The lettering spacing and density has been customized to give this impression to the viewer. The impressive pietra dura artwork includes geometric elements & style, plants & flowers, which are common in Islamic architecture. The level of sophistication in artwork includes a 3 cm decorative element containing more than 50 inlaid gemstones. T> In short: FACT FILE Location of Taj Mahal: Agra, India Famous As: 7th Wonder of the world Taj Mahal Was Built By: Mughal Emperor Shahjahan Built In The Memory Of: Mumtaz Mahal State: Uttar Pradesh, India Temp: Summer - Max - 45 degree centigrade, Winter - Min - 4 degree centigrade -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sheer poetry in marble. Majesty and magnificence, unrivalled. Love redefined. The Taj Mahal, the one and only one of its kind across the world. The monumental labour of love of a great ruler for his beloved queen. The ultimate realisation of Emperor Shahjahan's dream. One of the wonders of the world. From 1631 A.D., it took 22 years in the making. An estimated 20,000 people worked to complete the enchanting mausoleum, on the banks of the Yamuna in Agra.FONT> Believe it or not !!! The Story of a Second Taj According to popular legend, Shah Jehan decided to construct another Taj Mahal in black marble on the other side of the river Yamuna and to connect the two by a bridge. This structure was intended to be his own tomb. It has been recorded almost contemporarily by Tavernier : "Shah Jehan began to build his own tomb on the other side of the river but the war with his sons interrupted his plan and Aurangzeb who reigns at present is not disposed to complete it". Later gazetteers and guide books mention this story almost invariably. The irregular position of the cenotaph of Shah Jehan as compared to that of Mumtaz Mahal which occupies the exact centre of the hall is said to be proof of this assumption. The Mehtab Burj and the wall adjoining it opposite the Taj Mahal are generally said to be the foundations and remains of the proposed plan. Many scholars, however, believe that this idea belongs to fiction rather than history. The traces which are identified as the foundations of the second Taj are actually the enclosing wall of a garden founded by Baber. The irregular position of Shah Jehan's cenotaph in comparison to Mumtaz Mahal's, is similar to that at the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, and thus should not be of any striking significance. Besides, according to Islamic law, bodies are buried with their faces towards Mecca and legs towards the south, and the husband is placed on the right hand side of his wife. The interpretation that the cenotaph of Shah Jehan was not meant to be placed here appears to be superfluous. The Taj was designed by an Italian Architect >Some European scholars held the view that the Taj was designed by an Italian - Geronimo Veroneo. This was first suggested by Father Manrique, an Augustinian Friar, who came to Agra in 1640 A.D. to secure the release of Father Antony who had been imprisoned by the Mughals. It was in Lahore that he met Father Joseph de Castro, the executor of Veroneo who died at Lahore in 1640 A.D., and it was Castro who told him about "the Venetian by the name Geronimo Veroneo who came in the Portuguese ships and died in the city of Lahore before he reached it..." During the reign of Jehangir, a goldsmith named Veroneo did in fact come to India and, as mentioned by Father Manrique, did die on his way to Lahore. He lived for a time in Agra, and prospered there. He knew many influential Europeans throughout the North Indian provinces, and when he died, he was buried in the Christian cemetery of Padres Santos in Agra. The theory that Veroneo designed the Taj is intriguing and still finds occasional champions, especially in Italy. But the scales of evidence weigh heavily against it. True there is the testimony of Father Manrique, but he was no more than a casual tourist who heard that the Taj had been built by an Italian. However, nowhere else is mention made of Veroneo's participation in planning the Taj Mahal. As a matter of fact, there is no record that Veroneo had any skill other than that of working gold. Other Europeans who saw the Taj under construction never mentioned his name, and furthermore, it is difficult to suppose that an artist trained in seventeenth century Italy, the Italy of Bernini, could build a mausoleum that would typify Indo-Persian architecture. The Taj is not an isolated phenomenon, the creation of a single mastermind but the glorious consummation of a great epoch of art. The Basement Chambers and a probable Third Grave Two staircases on the northern side of the red sandstone plinth of the Taj lead below into the basement chambers which are seventeen in number and have been laid out in a line on the riverside of a narrow through-corridor. The rooms and corridor are of arcuate construction in brick and plaster, with stucco and painting ornamentation, distributed aesthetically on the soffits. At the extreme points on both sides there are doors sunk in the northern wall. They were blocked up permanently and securely with thick masonry at some unknown date, undoubtedly for some well calculated purpose. As may be surmised, the set on the northern side could have been repeated on the sides below the marble structure, with a rotating corridor, chambers and probably a crypt in the centre - all being interconnected. This crypt would have contained the third and the real set of graves. The custom of providing cenotaphs or replicas had been followed by the Turks and the Mughals alike as we meet with this practice at the tomb of Iltutmish at Delhi and at the tombs of Saqid Khan and Akbar at Agra. The tomb of Akbar has three tombstones, one on the grave and two as cenotaphs. The tomb of Itmad-ud-Dauhlah and Chini-ka-Rauza too had three tombstones each. The lowest of the former was contained in a crypt which was originally accessible from the riverside and has now been completely blocked up. These examples indicate that the Mughals liked to provide three tombstones in a mausoleum. At the Taj, the third is traditionally claimed to exist. It is only in these underground vaults that the third set could have been placed. The doors in the basement corridor no doubt exist and must have originally given entry to some underground arrangement of chambers and corridors. Though they are now impregnably blocked, their existence lends weight to the legendary version. The Taj Mahal was a Rajput Palace!! A group of Hindu fundamentalists which seeks to deny any positive role of Muslims in India disputes the claim that the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jehan. Instead, as outlined in the book The Taj Mahal Was a Rajput Palace, fourth-century Hindu rulers are given credit for its erection. The claim is without serious merit, but it has acquired something of a following in India. The Taj is sinking!! The architect of the Taj Mahal aimed at giving maximum strength and stability to the tomb and worked out the minutest details with utmost precision : the weight of the entire structure is uniformly distributed, extraordinarily massive piers and vaults were constructed to support this heavy load., the very best quality of bonding material helped combat the disrupted tensile stress etc. However, in spite of all these precautions and care, dangerous cracks and leakages developed in the substructure just four years after its completion. Aurangzeb in his letter to Shah Jehan in 1652 mentions these cracks. Some defects ere discovered about the same time in the dome. Though thorough repairs were undertaken, the nature of the cracks was not discovered. The cracks were again noticed to have developed to dangerous proportions in 1810. As a result an Advisory Committee on the restoration and conservation of the monument was set up and a survey with reference to the damage was undertaken. Some very important facts resulted from this survey. It was discovered that the plinth of the mausoleum on the northern side (or the riverside) is lower than on the south by 3.5cms. Cracks were not noticed on the exterior wall, but they were definitely present on the second storey vaults of the marble structure and, on a much larger scale, in the underground vaults below the northern side. The long series of cracks in the underground vaults may be due to the crushing of lime on account of the excessive weight, or as seems more probable, this may be due to the sinking of the whole structure towards the riverside!! Such a sinking would shift the load out of balance slowly and gradually and the unequal settlement would crack the weak points, particularly the soffits of the vaults and arches, which is actually happening in the underground chambers. A structure which stands on the edge of water has a natural tendency to move towards the more open side, the higher edge always acting as a strong buttress, thrusting it in the opposite direction. It is the whole mass, and not a part of it, that is gradually sinking. This is what can justifiably be concluded from the available data.