One of the seventh wonders: The Taj Mahal
1 / Introduction :
As soon as you hear that word, a huge tomb of white marble floats in front of your eyes. It reminds me of a blackened architecture built in an attempt to keep the love of mortals alive in a mortal world.The mournful longing of a mighty emperor to place the cry of anguish in the ever-increasing inertia of space-time comes to the ears. An incredible monument of love, a marble of the Mughal era and the wonder of the world, a beautiful monument built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to immortalize the memory of his beloved wife Mamtaz Mahal.
Today we know about the immortal monument or 'Taj Mahal'. It is located on the banks of the river Jamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. In the words of the poet Rabindranath Tagore, 'the white Taj Mahal is like a tear in the eye of the bereaved emperor.'
2 / Origin :
Abdul Hamid Lahauri, in his book from the 'Padshahnama' of 1636, refers to the Taj Mahal as Rawza-i-Munawara, which means illuminated or prominent tomb.The name now used, Taj Mahal, comes from the Persian Taj Majal and means "crown" (Taj) "palace". Also the title of Mumtaz Mahal, for which Shahjahan built the shrine.
3 / Inspiration :
The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in 1631, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died on June 17 of that year, when their 14th child, Gauhara Begum, was born.Construction began on it in 1632, and the tomb was completed in 1648, when the surrounding buildings and gardens were completed five years later.After the death of Mumtaz Mahal, the royal court of Shahjahan's grief documented the love story contained as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.
François Bernier, a French traveler who visited Agra in 1663, wrote:
''I shall finish this letter with a description of the two wonderful mausoleums which constitute the chief superiority of Agra over Delhi. One was erected by Jehan-guyre [sic] in honor of his father Ekbar; and Chah-Jehan raised the other to the memory of his wife Tage Mehale, that extraordinary and celebrated beauty, of whom her husband was so enamoured it is said that he was constant to her during life, and at her death was so affected as nearly to follow her to the grave.”
The Taj Mahal incorporates and extends the design tradition of Indo-Islamic and earlier Mughal architecture.Specific inspirations come from the successful Timurids and Mughal buildings, including Gur-i Amir (the tomb of Taimur, the ancestor of the Mughal dynasty in Samarkand), and Humayun's tomb, which inspired the Charbagh Garden and the Hasht-Behesht (architectural) plan.
Site, the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah (sometimes also known as Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jame Mosque in Delhi. Although earlier Mughal buildings were originally built of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble with semi-precious stones. Under his patronage the buildings have reached a new level of refinement.
4 / Starting words :
The Taj Mahal, which stands on the banks of the Jamuna as a unique symbol of human love for the last four centuries, was built with the tireless efforts of the emperor Shah Jahan, but the story of his rise and death was not romantic at all.Shah Jahan, the third son of Emperor Jahangir, was born on 5 January 1592 in Lahore, then part of the Mughal Empire. However, his real name is Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram. In his adolescence, he was better known as Prince Khurram.Whether it was due to the calculations of the royal astrologers or due to the great affection of his grandfather Empress Rukya Sultana Begum, the fate of Prince Khurram was going to be auspicious in the future from his childhood.
Prince Khurram's birthday on the 15th Hijri birthday in 1607 AD is a rare honor. His father, Emperor Jahangir, gave him gold and gems equal to his weight. The matter was really enviable in the eyes of other princes.Another important event took place in the life of Prince Khurram at a very close time. The engagement of Arjumand Banu Begum, the niece of his future stepmother Meherunnisa, was completed with this prince, a strong claimant of the Masons.It was this Arjumand Banu Begum who later became world famous as Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved of Emperor Shah Jahan. And Fupu Meherunnisa became world famous as Nurjahan. Therefore, it can be said that this charming personality of Mumtaz Mahal may have been inherited from him. Because as much as he had an influence on Emperor Shah Jahan, his uncle Nur Jahan also had no less influence on Emperor Jahangir.
Shah Jahan's beloved Mumtaz Mahal was born on 27 April 1592 in Agra, northern India. There are rumors that the boy Shahjahan was fascinated by the attraction of the girl Mumtaz Mahal at the first sight.That fascination gradually turned into an epic of blackened love. They were officially married on April 30, 1612, about five years after the engagement. Mumtaz Mahal was then 19 years old and Shahjahan was 20 years old.
5 / Intensity of love between Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal :
The ruling identity of Emperor Shah Jahan, who was hard-nosed in suppressing the rebellion, cunning in the politics of power and running the empire with a strong hand, has been suppressed under the identity of his lover. Because even though the power of the ruler Shahjahan was lost with his dethronement, the lover Shahjahan is still alive in the minds of the people through the Taj Mahal.Why boyfriend Shahjahan is unique in history? Is the reason behind this just to build an unimaginably expensive tomb to keep the memory of the dead beloved alive? Or was Mumtaz-Shahjahan's love story no less in his lifetime? To find the answers to these questions we have to go back exactly four hundred years from today.
The polygamy of the princes at that time was well known and recognized. The Mughals were no exception. Each prince and emperor owned separate palaces, where their wives and maids lived. In that continuity, many women were also eager to get close to the future emperor Prince Khurram.But Shahjahan was very different from others in one place. That was his personal love affair with Mumtaz. In the Middle Ages, marital relations in the Indian royal family revolved around biological needs, the desire to inherit, and other political motives. The existence of personal love was rare in royal families. But in the case of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, mutual relations and deep romanticism prevailed over all this.
Besides Mumtaz Mahal, Shahjahan had two other wives. But those marriages were only for political needs. Mumtaz Mahal, on the other hand, was not only his wife, but also a close advisor and close friend. In a word, Mumtaz Mahal was Shahjahan's ideal life partner and constant companion.Mumtaz Mahal had considerable influence on every important decision of Shah Jahan after becoming emperor. Not only that, he was Shahjahan's companion in the expeditions. In Mumtaz Mahal's nineteen years of married life, Shahjahan had fourteen children, although only seven of them survived.Emperor Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan's successor, is the son of this royal couple. And that is why Arjumand Banu Begum gradually became one of the special people of Shahjahan's palace, whose one word was Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Mahal was indeed worthy of the title.
But love does not last forever in the life of mortal man. No living being on earth can avoid the inevitability of death. The royal couple like Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal also came face to face with that cruel truth quite suddenly. In 1629, Emperor Shah Jahan launched a campaign to quell a revolt in the Deccan.Mumtaz took Mahal with him. The empress became pregnant in the middle of this long two-year campaign. He was getting tired day by day on the long journey. Meanwhile, the time of childbirth was fast approaching. Sadly, the ultimate tragedy occurred during childbirth.
After a long period of unbearable labor pains, Mumtaz Mahal finally gave birth to a daughter. But due to excessive bleeding, the fragile body of the empress could not cope with the stress of giving birth to the fourteenth child.It is said that the princess Jahanara, bewildered by the indescribable pain of Katar Mumtaz Mahal in labor pains, began to give alms for the cure of her mother. But there was something else written in the destiny of the empress.'Mumtaz Mahal', the priceless gem of the emperor's palace, fell to his death on June 17, 1631, weeping for the mighty Shah Jahan.
Shah Jahan was so saddened by the death of Mumtaz that all of a sudden a wave of anguish swept over everything in its splendor of color, form and beauty. The emperor himself declared a year of mourning and went into hiding. Exactly one year later, when the emperor appeared in public, his hair and beard were tangled, and the look of old age and separation was evident in his eyes.
6 / Commencement of construction of Taj Mahal :
It is said that on his deathbed, Mumtaz Mahal informed Shahjahan as his last wish that he be buried in a tomb whose beauty would be admired by people all over the world.It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. To keep the memory of his beloved forever, he decided to build a tomb that the people of the world had never seen before, which even the most powerful man of the age would dare to dare to build.Shah Jahan adopted a master plan to build the Taj Mahal in memory of Mumtaz Mahal, the palace that will be the 'crown' of all the palaces in the world.
7 / Construction :
The Taj Mahal was built on a plot of land in the southern part of the walled city of Agra owned by Maharaja Joy Singh. Shah Jahan took the land instead of giving him a huge palace in the middle of Agra. Work on the Taj Mahal began with the laying of the foundation stone of the tomb. About 3 acres of land is excavated and loose soil is dumped in it to reduce river runoff. The whole area is leveled to be raised about 50 m from the river bank.
i) Size and volume :
The entire Taj Mahal is 180 feet high with the main dome being 213 feet high and 60 feet wide and surrounded by four minarets, each 162.5 feet high. The size of the whole complex is 1902 by 1002 feet. Only the Taj Mahal is built on 186 by 186 feet of marble. Its main entrance is 151 by 117 feet wide and 100 feet high.
ii) Brick scaffolding :
A well was later dug in the tomb area where the water flowed. Which was later filled with stones, which was the foundation of the tomb. [Another well was dug at the same depth to measure the water level over time.] Instead of barrier bamboo, masons built similar brick scaffolding inside and outside the tomb according to their general barrier barrier rules.The scaffolding was so large and complex that it would take almost a year for workers to remove it. According to the legend, Shahjahan announced that anyone could take the bricks of the barracks and the farmers, day laborers, peasants removed the barracks overnight.
iii) Stone extraction method :
A 15-kilometer sloping path was built to carry marble stones and other materials to the designated site for construction. According to contemporary sources, 20 and 30 bulls were tied together in a special type of bullock cart to lift the stones. The crane was used to lift the stones and place them at the right height. Donkeys and bulls provided power to move the crane.
iv) Duration :
Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, with a relentless effort of 20,000 workers over 22 years, and was completed in 1653. It took about 12 years to build the foundation and the tomb. The rest of the area took another 10 years to build. (Since the courtyard area was built in several parts, the historians of the time mentioned different dates for the completion of the construction. For example, the tomb was completed in 1643, but work on the rest was still going on.)
v) Water circulation infrastructure :
Water or water was supplied to the Taj Mahal through a complex infrastructure. The water was drawn from the river with a few fillings - a method of drawing water by animals through ropes and buckets. The water was stored in a large cistern, which was then pumped out with 30 more puddles and fed to the underground supply cistern of the Taj Mahal.Water from the supply cistern reached three more auxiliary cisterns, from which the Taj Mahal area was connected by pipes. A .25 earthen pipe has been taken along the main walkway with about 1.5 m of underground. Which fills the main cistern of the courtyard. More copper pipes were used to supply water to the north-south drains.Additional drains were dug to irrigate the entire garden. The shower pipes were not directly connected to the supply pipes. Instead, a copper pot was placed under each fountain. The water was first filled into pots so that water pressure could be applied evenly to each fountain.
vi) Manufacturer :
The Taj Mahal is not designed by one person. Such projects require a lot of talented people. The names of those who took part in the construction of the Taj Mahal are available from different sources. The Persian architect, Ustad Isa; His name is found in many places in the special role of designing the courtyard.
The ‘thick’ of Benares in the Persian country (Iran); A large Persian text mentions him as the caretaker architect. The large dome was designed by Ismail Khan of the Ottoman Empire, who is considered to be the first hemisphere designer and one of the leading dome builders of the era.
Kazim Khan, a resident of Lahore, built the gold bar on the top of the big dome. Chiranjilal, a stone carver who came from Delhi; Was taken as the chief sculptor and mosaicist.Amanat Khan of Persia (Siraj, Iran), who is the chief calligrapher (his name is attested at the entrance to the Taj Mahal, where his name is engraved in stone),Mohammad Hanif was the caretaker of the masons. Mir Abdul Karim and Mukkarimat Khan from Siraj, Iran, who handled the management and financial aspects.
vii) Goods and materials :
The Taj Mahal is made of various materials brought from Asia and India. More than 1,000 elephants were used to carry construction materials during the construction work.
a) Stone :
Light-flowing opaque white marble stones were brought from Rajasthan, while medium quality red, yellow or brown stones were brought from Punjab. Yasham: Hard, plain, green stone, crystal pieces were brought from China.The red sandstone was brought from Fatehpur Sikri. The Vaidurya green-blue (turquoise) colored gemstone was brought from Tibet and the sapphire gemstone was brought from Afghanistan.Sapphire - The bright blue gem came from Sri Lanka and the crimson, brown or white precious stone came from Arabia. These twenty-eight types of precious stones are set on white marble stones.
b) Gems :
The Taj Mahal contained precious rubies - 60 ounces, emeralds - 100 ounces, sapphires - 160 ounces, bright gemstones - 180 ounces, turquoise - 90 ounces, Gwalior Stone - 990 ounces, bright luminous stones - 80 ounces, magnets Iron ore - 80 ounces In addition there were 230 ounces of precious gems and a bar of gold without sugar was approximately 200 ounces.Three and a half hundred years ago today, Emperor Shah Jahan used to collect gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and gems and put them in the Taj Mahal to create beauty.
viii) Cost :
It is difficult to estimate the cost of construction at that time and due to some problems, there was some variation in the cost of construction of the Taj Mahal. The construction of the Taj Mahal was estimated to have cost an estimated Rs 32 million at the time, which is about 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($ 827 million US) based on 2015 standards. Is called priceless.
8 / Different aspects of architectural style :
i) Wide walls :
The courtyard of the Taj Mahal is surrounded on three sides by walls like sandstone forts. There are no walls on the side of the river. There are more tombs outside this wall, including the tombs of Shahjahan's other wives and a large tomb of Mumtaz's favorite maids. These structures are mainly made of red sandstone, resembling the small Mughal tombs of the time.
On the inside (garden) the walls have pillars and roofs. Which was commonly seen in Hindu temples and was later brought into the design of Mughal mosques. The walls are connected by a variety of dome-shaped buildings from which a number of places can be seen, which were used as observation posts. Which is currently being used as a museum.
ii) Main gate :
The main entrance to the Taj Mahal is also made of marble. The design and style of the door is reminiscent of the architecture of the Mughal emperors. The shape of its arches is exactly the same as the arch of the tomb and its pistachio arches have been matched with the calligraphy or calligraphy design of the tomb. Its roof is designed in the same way as other sandstone buildings, all with beautiful geometric shapes.
iii) Buildings and mosques :
At the very end of the courtyard are two huge sandstone buildings with open sections of the tomb. Their backs are parallel to the east and west walls.
The two buildings look exactly like each other. The building on the east side is the mosque, the other is the Jawab (north), the main purpose of which was to maintain balance (which was used to accommodate guests during the Mughal period). The only difference is that it does not have a mahram and its floor is designed where the floor of the mosque is marked with black stones for the prayers of 569 worshipers.
The initial design of the mosque is similar to other buildings built by Shah Jahan. Especially his Masjid-i-Jahannuma or Delhi Jame Masjid — a large house with three domes. The places of worship in the mosques of the Mughal period were divided into three parts. There are small prayer halls on either side of the big prayer hall. There is a huge dome above every prayer place in the Taj Mahal but the place is open.
iv) Tomb :
At the base of the Taj Mahal is his white marble tomb. Which, like other Mughal tombs, has essentially Persian features, such as a symmetrical edifice with an awning, a bow-shaped door, and a large dome at the top. The tomb stands on a square altar. The foundation structure is huge and has a few rooms. Mumtaz Mahal and Shahjahan memorials have been placed in the main room, their graves are one level below.
v) Main Ivan and side pistachios :
The foundation is basically a broken cube with angles, about 55 meters on each side (on the right, see floor plan). On the long side is a large pistachio, or large bow-shaped path, the structure of the ivan, with a similar bow-shaped porch above. This main arch-shaped arch has been added to the roof of the building above to form the facade.
On the other side of the arch, the extra pistols have moved upwards and backwards, this feature of the pistol has been used in the same way in the corners. The design is completely symmetrical and the same on every side of the building. There are four minarets, one at each corner of the foundation, facing the broken corner.
vi) Dome :
The marble dome above the tomb is the most interesting feature of the tomb. Its size is almost equal to the size of the foundation of the building, which is about 35 meters. The reason for its height is that the dome is placed on top of a 7 meter high cylinder shaped drum.
Due to its shape, this dome is sometimes called onion dome or guava dome. The top of the dome is decorated with a lotus flower, which further enhances its height. Above the dome is an old probably copper or cassar bar with Persian and Hindu traditional ornaments.
vii) Bars arranged on the dome :
The reason for the importance of the big dome is that it has four more small domes at its four corners. The smaller domes look the same as the larger domes. Their pillars have risen from the base of the tomb to the roof. Smaller domes also have old cassava or copper bars.The long conical apex or vase rises above the side of the foundation wall and is visible at the height of the dome.
viii) Peak :
On the large dome there is an old conical pinnacle like a crown. The pinnacle was made of gold before the 1800s, but now it is made of bronze. This peak is an excellent example of the combination of Persian and Hindu decorative elements.At the top of the summit there is a moon, which is an Islamic element, and the horns of the summit are aimed towards heaven. The moon on the top of the big dome and the shelled horns together form a traditional symbol, similar to the symbol of the Hindu god Shiva.
ix) Minar :
At the corners of the main altar of the minarets are four large posts, each more than 40 meters high.The symmetry of the Taj Mahal can be seen in the minarets as well. The outposts have been designed in the traditional minaret design of the mosque,Where the muezzin gives the call to prayer. Each minaret is divided into two equal verandas with three equal heights. At the very top of the minaret is the last porch with a similar umbrella over the tombs.
The same work has been done on the umbrellas of the minaret as has been done on the top of the lotus flower design. Each minaret is tilted slightly from the altar to the outside so that even if the minaret ever collapses, it should not fall on top of the main tomb.
x) Garden :
A large charbagh (formerly the Mughal garden was divided into four parts) was built in the front courtyard of the Taj Mahal. The divisions are divided into 16 flower gardens using a quarter elevated path per 300 m x 300 m space garden.In the middle of the shrine and in the middle of the door and in the middle of the garden there is a raised marble water tank and in the north-south there is a linear tank to reflect the Taj Mahal. There are also several more tree-lined streets and fountains in the garden.
The 'Charbagh' garden was first established in India by the first Mughal emperor Babur, which was designed like a Persian garden. A garden was divided into four equal sized bugs with water. Then the whole garden was planted with various fruit trees to create a pleasant environment.
Charbagh means so that the garden of heaven will be reflected. In the writings of the Mughal period, a Persian mystic described the garden of paradise as the ideal garden, which will be full of abundance. Water plays a big role in this description. According to the text, four rivers are formed from a hill in the middle of the garden of heaven, and it flows separately to the north, south, east and west of the garden.
xi) Walk along linear cistern :
Almost all Mughal charbagas are quadrangular, with a shrine or camp in the middle of the garden. But the Taj Mahal differs from the others in that it is located on one side of the garden, rather than in the middle of the garden. The newly discovered 'Mahtab Bagh' on the other side of the river Jamuna gives a hint of different information, the river Jamuna was included in the design of the garden so that it could be meaningful as a river of heaven.
The layout of the garden and its architectural features such as its fountains, brick or marble roads and geometric brick lined flower beds are exactly like Salimar and this sequence was designed by the same engineer Ali Mardan.
Later, the garden rose, daffodil, various fruit trees and other plants are known to be in abundance. As the Mughal emperors gradually decayed, so did the gardens. During the British rule, the British took charge of the maintenance of the Taj Mahal. They changed the landscape and gave a new look to London's official garden.
xii) Calligraphy :
Inside and outside the Taj Mahal, there is an excellent work of calligraphy (the art of beautiful handwriting, also known as handwriting in Bengali). Inscriptions of his acquaintance and praise can also be seen in the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. On one side of the tomb, 99 names of Allah are inscribed in calligraphic inscriptions.
These famous calligraphs were done by the then calligrapher Abdul Haq, whose admirable calligraphy fascinated him and the emperor himself conferred on him the title of 'Amanat Khan'
9 / Stunning decoration :
The beauty of the Taj Mahal changes over time. Physics says that the color of light reflected from an object is what we see as the color of that object. White matter reflects light of all colors, but does not absorb light of any color. As a result, the color of the Taj Mahal, built of white stone, changes color with the incident light.
The joyous atmosphere created in the Taj Mahal by the play of sunshine in the golden sun of the morning is transformed into the pain of separation due to the separation of Robi falling in the western sky at dusk. And if one ignores the description of the heavenly beauty of the Taj Mahal at moonlit night, the Taj Mahal episode will remain incomplete.
The description of the unearthly scene of the Taj Mahal on a moonlit night may not be possible with the help of any literature. He has to enjoy the scene with the power of feeling. Not in the magic of words, but in the romanticism of the silent.
10 / Some common myths and some hard facts about the Taj Mahal :
One of the most common misconceptions about the Taj Mahal is that after the construction of the Taj Mahal, Emperor Shah Jahan cut off the wrists of its designers and architects so that no one could ever build the Taj Mahal again. This story is completely fabricated and baseless.
Not only the Taj Mahal, but also many famous installations of the world have such myths. Also, according to the French tourist Jean-Baptiste Tavier, Shah Jahan wanted to build another black tomb exactly like the Taj Mahal on the other side of the river Jamuna, popularly known as 'Kalataj'. But he could not carry out the plan as his son Aurangzeb had deposed him earlier. According to modern researchers, Tavie's claim to Kalataj is nothing but untruths and myths.
Undoubtedly, the Taj Mahal was the biggest project of that era and Mughal India was one of the richest empires in the world at that time. Nevertheless, whether Shahjahan's empire had the capacity to carry the burden of this unimaginably costly mega project is a matter of great debate.As a result of the acquisition of the Taj Mahal and other expensive projects, the Mughal treasury became almost empty by the end of Shah Jahan's reign. Not only that, in order to ensure food supply to the workers of the Taj Mahal, an artificial famine was created in some parts of the Mughal Empire.
If the people have to pay so much for the expression of a ruler's personal love in this way, isn't the justification for the construction of that architecture inevitably in question? The incident also bears a clear indication of how fragile the people were in the face of an emperor's personal whims.His son Aurangzeb deposed him and placed him under house arrest in the Agra fort to save the Mughal Empire from the imminent collapse of Shahjahan's luxurious lifestyle and all the more ambitious master plans.
Shah Jahan speculated to the various architects and craftsmen involved in the tomb that there is no conclusive evidence for the claim that the details of death, separation and separation, often terribly, are described. Some stories claim that those involved in the construction have signed an agreement that they themselves will not participate in a similar design. Similar claims are made for many famous buildings.
In the 1830s, Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of India, claimed that there was no evidence that the Taj Mahal was demolished and a marble auction was planned. Bentinck biographer John Rosselli says the story stems from Bentinck's fundraising for the sale of discarded marble from the Agra Fort.
Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the phenol will cause water to come out. To date, officers have found broken bangles around the silhouette.
11 / End result :
the windows of the Agra fort in his last life
Shortly before the construction of the Taj Mahal was completed, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb and placed under house arrest in the fort of Agra. It is said that Shah Jahan spent the rest of his life staring at the Taj Mahal through the windows of the Agra fort. During the last parting of the afternoon, the melody of the beloved may be ringing in his heart.Her eyes might glaze over as she recalls the days of youthful love.
After the death of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb buried him next to his wife in the Taj Mahal. This is the only thing that has ruined the symmetry of the design of the Taj Mahal. Since 1948, no one has been allowed to enter the main tomb.There is another fake tomb of the same type built on the floor above this tomb. Visitors get a chance to see this fake tomb.
In the late nineteenth century, a part of the Taj Mahal was badly damaged due to lack of repairs. During the Sepoy Revolution of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by the British troops and the government officials used batali to remove the precious sapphires from the walls of the Taj Mahal.
12 / Reconstruction and maintenance :
In the late nineteenth century, Lord Curzon undertook a major project to rebuild the Taj Mahal, the damage done to the Taj Mahal by the Jat rulers of Bharatpur who invaded Agra in the eighth century. Work on the project was completed in 1908.He placed a large lamp on the inner stage of the Taj Mahal (which was supposed to be made in imitation of a lamp hanging in the Cairo Mosque, but the craftsmen of the time could not make it exactly). It was then that the garden was redesigned to look like an English park that still exists. The Taj Mahal was well maintained in the twentieth century.
13 / Threats :
In 1942, the government built scaffolding in disguise of the building in anticipation of an air strike by the Japanese Air Force. During the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffolding was again built to confuse bomber pilots.
The Mathura oil refinery has caused a recent threat of environmental pollution on the banks of the Jamuna River, which contradicted the order of the Supreme Court of India. Pollution is turning the Taj Mahal yellow-brown. To help control pollution, the Government of India has established the "Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ)", an area of 10,400 square kilometers (4,000 square miles) around the monument with strict emission standards.
Concerns have recently been raised about the structural integrity of the tombs due to declining groundwater levels in the Jamuna River Basin, which is declining at a rate of about 1.5 meters (5 feet) per year. In 2010, cracks appeared in some parts of the tomb, and the minarets around the monument showed signs of tilting, as the wooden foundation of the tomb could rot due to lack of water.However, it has been mentioned by politicians that the minarets are designed to be tilted a little outside so that they do not collapse on the tomb during an earthquake. In 2011, it was reported that some predictions indicated that the tomb could collapse within five years.
Small minarets located in two remote buildings were reportedly damaged by a storm on April 11, 2018. Another severe thunderstorm on 31 May 2020 caused some damage to the complex.
14 / Tourist Center :
The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO registered more than 2 million visitors in 2001, up from about 7-8 million in 2014. A two-tier pricing system is in place, where entry fees are significantly lower for Indian nationals and more expensive for foreigners. In 2018, the fee was Rs 50 for Indian nationals and Rs 1,100 for foreign tourists.
Most tourists visit during the colder months of October, November and February. Polluting vehicles are not allowed near the complex and tourists have to walk from the parking area or catch an electric bus. Khawaspura (North Angina) is currently being restored for use as a new visitor center. In 2019, to deal with overcrowding, the site sets penalties for visitors who stay longer than three hours.
The small town south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mamtazabad, was initially built with caravans, bazaars and bazaars to meet the needs of visitors and workers. The list of proposed travel destinations often shows the Taj Mahal, also seen in the list of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, including the recently announced New Seven Wonder of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.
The grounds are open from 6:00 to 19:00 on weekdays, except Fridays when the complex is open for prayers in the mosque between 12:00 and 14:00. The complex is open for viewing on the night of the full moon and two days before and after Friday and the month of Ramadan.
At present the cost of Taj Darshan is only 40 rupees for Indians. The entrance fee for tourists from SAARC countries is Rs 530. And for the rest of the world it is 1000 rupees. Archaeological Survey of India is also offering online tickets for tourists visiting the Taj Mahal from December 25, 2014.
Foreign dignitaries often visit the Taj Mahal in India. Notable people who have visited the site include Dwight Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, George HW. Bush, George Harrison, Mark Zuckerberg, Vladimir Putin, Princess Diana and others.
15 / Debate :
In 2000, the Supreme Court of India N. Rejecting Oak's plea, he declared that a Hindu king had built the Taj Mahal. In 2005, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a similar petition.The case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who said that the Taj Mahal was built in 1196 by the Hindu king Parmal Dev. And put a Muslim mark in its place to make it a tomb. The idols of the temple were hidden in a deep vault.
A controversial but less-known theory suggests that the Taj Mahal dedicated the site of a Hindu temple to Shiva in the form of a linga. When Shah Jahan arrived at the scene after Mumtaz's death, he demolished the temple and built the Taj Mahal entirely with Muslim symbols.Mumtaz’s actual tomb never contained her body but instead had the linga in place of the temple and other idols and Hindu symbols in the temple were hidden and stuck in a vault at the bottom of the Taj Mahal. The vault has never been opened and remains locked and closed to this day.
16 / Conclusion :
The Taj Mahal as a whole is a complex and intact architecture. It was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983 and is one of the seventh wonders of the world.It was then said: 'The universally acclaimed best of world heritage'. Perhaps from the point of view of a common man four hundred years ago, it may seem that the Taj Mahal is nothing more than a waste of billions of rupees in ordinary people's taxes.
But today, four hundred years later, the Taj Mahal is not only the sole property of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan's love, but also the thirst quencher in the eyes of beauty-loving people all over the world.And that is why every year more than half a crore tourists from different parts of the world come to visit the Taj Mahal, and look with fascinated eyes at a morning, a twilight or a full moon.As long as people are alive, this architecture built in the past will remain immortal in the hearts of people in a unique style.
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Comments
Post a Comment