What the statue of Liberty is to America, the Pyramids to Egypt, the Leaning Tower of Pisa to Italy and of course the Borobudur to Indonesia, The Taj Mahal is to India.... This country's famous architectural wonder.
Universally, it is one of man's proudest creation and easily the most familiar image to be associated with the rich civilisation and magnificent editifices of India. Almost by it self, the taj has put Agra and India on the world map, being a building designed by giants and finished by jewellers as it were.
Its curving, gently-swelling dome, the four minarets pointing to the sky and the square base upon which it rest so lightly have appeared more often than any other monument on travel brochures araound the world. When tour operators anywhere talk about selling India, they start by talking about the Taj. As a result, the Taj is the biggest and most rewarding attraction in India to tourist from every where. Nobody who has seen this monument after braving the harsh India sun and the narrow, dusty streets of Agra, has gone back without being struck by its wonder
Architecturally, the Taj is one of the earliest mentioned of the world's eight wonder. A perfect building, flawlessly, proportionate, and made entirely of marble. A gigantic, glistening white pearl dome stands supported by four corner pillars from which flow the rivers of grace. The massive square on which the Taj stands, represents that material universe, the octogonal main edifice stands for the transitional phase, while the dome itself symbolises the vault in heaven. In other words, the dome unites heaven and earth.
The Taj is renowned as much for its structural magnificence as its aesthetic beauty. It is marked by summetry and balance. In the shape of four minarets, the cuppolas, the arch set within the rectangle, the marble inlay platform, the red sandstone walks that lead up to the mausoleum. Even the mosque and the guesthouse to the right and left of the Taj are mirror image of one another. Leading historians have acknowledged tha this architectural beauty can never be surpassed. Nor can it be adequately described. Its extreme grandeur can only be appreciated. Not Meausured....
The Taj was built over a period of 22 years from 1632, as a tribute to a beautiful woman and as a monument for enduring love by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Plunged into grief by the death of his biloved wife, The empress Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan had the Taj constructed to enshrine her mortal remains and be a centre of pilgrimage. The monument is islamic architecture at its purest. As a tomb, it has no match in the world, because mortal remains have never been housed in such majesty. The Tomb has been ornamented not just by precious stones, but also by splendidly calligraphed verses from Qur'an. The incription on the massive front gate reads :
Return to the lord
at peace with Him and He at peace with you.
so enter as one of His servants and enter into His garden. "
The amazing thing is that despite the commanding height of the Taj, these inscriptions seem to get no smaller as they go up. Top to bottom, they retain the same proportions. It might seem like an optical illusion, but actually the size of the letters was gradually heightened as their distance from the increased. From the ground, therefore, the dimensions of the inscriptions seem the same at every point.
If you have already visited the Taj in Agra during trip to India, and paid your obeisance to this extraordinary memorial of love, the you will understand why its romance has survived more than three hundred years to still remain the story of our times No visit to India is complete without an expedition to Taj Mahal. It has taken hundreds of thousands of millions of lives to sustain the great monument and make it one of the most visited tourist destinations of the world.