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About Taj Mahal


The Taj Mahal is the most photographed and discussed building in history. This impossibly beautiful marble monument, the Poem in Marble, took over 22,000 laborers 22 years to build and was built to commemorate the love of Emperor Shah Jahaan for his empress, Mumtaz Mahal.

One of the finest examples of Indian workmanship to be found in marble, it is superbly decorated with abstract designs, floral decorations, calligraphy, marble inlay work and shallow sculpted marble panels. Stone inlay was a special technique developed in India to decorate stone and wall surfaces. Even today, in Agra, you can find artisans making miniature models of the Taj in marble and preparing decorative plates, tables and boxes with fine inlay work.

Shah Jahan intended to build a black marble replica of the Taj on the other side of the river but he was imprisoned by his son before the work could start. He was buried beside Mumtaz Mahal because the Emperor Aurangzeb, his son and successor, did not wish to spend excessive mounts of money on building another Taj for his father. Aurangzeb, later built the Bibika Maqbara as a dedication to the memory of his first wife, which is a replica of the Taj Mahal.
Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal and once the capital of the Mughal empire, has several monuments which display the splendour of Mughal architecture. It was here that Babar, the founder of the dynasty, had the first formal Persian garden laid out on the banks of the river Yamuna. Akbar, his grandson, raised the towering ramparts of the great Red Fort, within whose walls Jahangir built rose-red palaces, courts and gardens, and which Shahajahan embellished with marble mosques, palaces and pavilions of gem-inlaid white marble.

Agra is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata as Agraban, the sister city of the more prominent Mathura. Agra was established in 1475 by Badal Singh and came into its own when Sikander Lodhi of the Lodhi dynasty chose it for his capital because of its proximity to the Yamuna. Babur defeated the Lodhis to capture not only Agra but also to lay the foundation of the Mughal empire. In the mid-16th and earlier 17th centuries, Agra witnessed a frenzied building activity and it was during this time that the symbol of love, the Taj Mahal, was built. The buildings made during this era were purely in the contemporary Mughal style and of very high quality. Besides the monuments, Agra is worth a visit for the masterpieces of craftsmen recreating the glory of the Mughal period and for the Mughlai cuisine, the aroma of which fills the narrow lanes of Agra.

Banks of Yamuna
On the banks of river Yamuna, rises the crescent-like Agra Fort. Designed and built by Emperor Akbar in 1565 A.D., the fort is surrounded by a 70 foot high wall. It houses the beautiful Pearl Mosque and numerous palaces including the Jahangiri Mahal, Khas Mahal, Diwan-i-Khas, Diwan-i-Am, Machihi Bhawan and Moti Masjid. The fort has four gates and is enclosed by a double battlemented wall of red sand stone.

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