The Taj Mahal in the northern Indian city of Agra is famously one of the seven wonders of the world, and its legendary beauty compounded by the romantic history behind it, a great love story that's another major factor making especially compelling for visitors to book a Taj Mahal tour.
As the story goes, in 1607 Jahangir Shah Jahan, the son of the Mughal emperor, fell in love with the Persian princess Arjumand Banu Begum (later known as Mumtaz Mahal) when he was only 14 years old. They wed five years later, had a blissful married life, and she gave birth to 13 children. But in 1631 he was devastated when she died giving birth to their 14th child, a daughter.
That same year, Shah Jahan initiated the process of building her tomb and monument to their love. Masons, stonecutters, carpenters, painters, dome layers, calligraphers and thousands of other workers were called from across India and as far as Central Asia and Iran. It took 22,000 workers and 1,000 elephants nearly 22 years to complete this exquisite creation, made entirely of white marble at an expenditure of almost 32 million rupees.
Soon after the Taj was completed in 1653, Shah Jahan did not even get a chance to enjoy the marvel that he had got created. His cruel son Aurangzeb deposed and imprisoned Shah Jahan in the Agra Fort, from which he would keep gazing at the marvelous monument and remember his love and passion for Mumtaz Mahal. And when Shah Jahan died in 1666, his body was also placed in the Taj Mahal right next to his beloved wife.
At the end of the 19th century during the British Raj, then then viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, commissioned a restoration project to bring back the Taj, which had fallen into disrepair, to its original glory, even though by then most of its jewels and treasures had already been looted by the British. The British style lawns that we see now were also created at this time.
Today, 366 years after it was completed, this UNESCO World Heritage Site has survived as both the pinnacle of Mughal architecture and a testament to love and longing. And many of today's visitors book sunrise and sunset Taj Mahal tours to best appreciate the beauty, serenity, and mystique of this exotic architectural treasure with the bittersweet love story behind it. There's a good reason why this is a perennial bucket-lister of countless entrance by both that beauty and that mystique.
Comments