History of Taj Mahal

The promise The Taj Mahal is standing on the banks of the Yamuna River. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the loving memory of his wife Mumtaj Mahal. In 1628, Shah Jahan became the ruler of the Mughal emperor and only three years later his dearly loved wife died shortly after giving birth to their 14th child. But before dying she extracted four promises from him. One of the promises was to build a memorial for her. Shah Jahan kept the promise and envisioned the memorial. In 1632, Shah Jahan began the project of tomb for his wife Mumtaj Mahal. The story Sixteen years old prince Shah Jahan was strolling down the Meena Bazaar where he saw Mumtaj Mahal and got spellbound by her beauty. After five years and a wife later, at the age of twenty the royal married nineteen years old Mumtaj as a bride and it was an eternal union from the start, one that held out legal barriers and fight for progression. The architecture It took a length of twenty-two years to complete and an estimated 20,000 workers were employed. The building is encircled by four 138 ft. Minarets and sits on a 315 ft. square marble platform. Each side has a 110 ft. arch and centre dome is around 200 feet high. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1,000 elephants to transport it to the site. The building is built in an Islamic style of architecture. Many of the famous architects of that time were associated with the construction. In the centre of the building is a tomb for Mumtaj Mahal and the tomb for Shah Jahan is next to her. Both the tombs are empty; the bodies of the two are buried in a burial chamber below the building. The entire arrangement of the Taj Mahal is symmetrical, with one exception, the tomb of Shah Jahan which was added later to the building. There is a myth which suggests that Shah Jahan was planning on building a black imitation of the Taj Mahal for himself on the other side of the river, although the evidence or plan of this has never been found. Shah Jahan in his old age was removed from power by his own son. He was kept in prison inside the Red Fort within the sight of the Taj Mahal. He spent the last eight years of his life in prison till his death in 1666.