The world couldn’t deny when Rabindranath Tagore described Taj Mahal as a tear on the cheeks of eternity. By each passing year; twice the population of the city of Agra, tourists visit for witnessing the beauty of Taj Mahal.
The mausoleum was built by Shah Jahan to showcase his immortal love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, giving a major reason for the monument to be named as, ‘Taj Mahal’. One can book an Agra Tour Package if you have days in your hand or else go for a One Day Agra Tour to witness the immaculate marble structure.
The “affair of the heart” component
The structure epitomizes the feeling of love. Being the reason behind the construction of this monument, seeing a quintessence of love created, attracts people from every nook and corner of the world. Plan a Vacation to Taj Mahal, India if you want to have an experience of a lifetime.
The construction of the masterpiece
Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved wife of Shah Jahan ruled the hearts of the entire kingdom with her beauty, compassion, and great political knowledge. It is said that while accompanying the emperor on a military trip she died in the arms of her husband.
But, for Shah Jahan it was difficult to get a closure of her death, so she was brought back to Agra and the emperor decided to build a structure which could never be parallelized with any other as a symbol of love.
The magnanimous architecture of the monument
The architecture of the monument majorly comprises of white marbles, red sandstone, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, jaspers, sapphires, crystals, and jade. The structure comprises of 22 domes representing the number of years it took to build. Your One Day Agra Tour will be bliss to be a spectator of carvings of wines, flowers and texts from Quran.
Witness the optical illusion
Each of the four corners has four sided pilasters and one side of the pilaster is joined to the walls and you can spot the three sides.
Now if you stand approximately three meters close to the waters and walk close to the wall while gazing at the V-shaped motif, you will spot not three but six sides of the pilasters. Having an Agra Tour Package is worth witnessing the magical aura of the monument.
Wonder Of the World
The only Indian monument which finds place in the most coveted list of ‘7 wonders of the world’ is none other than the ‘Mughal Masterpiece’ The Taj Mahal. It is essentially beautiful and a source of pride for every Indian.
It is indeed symbolic of Indian Art at the global forefront. And therefore, it is one of those monuments that should be visited at least once in lifetime.
Poetic Epitome
Childhood, youth and old-age all float on the aisle of time, what remains are the debris of love encapsulated as memories, and Taj Mahal is one such piece of the endless love that Shah Jahan had for his dearest Mumtaz. He conquered the subcontinent, but couldn’t conquer his heart, which mourned the demise of his beloved and Taj Mahal is indeed a personification of one of those million tears which Shah Jahan wept on loosing Mumtaz and today even after centuries it rests as a solitary mark on the arch of time, reminding generations that some forever’s aren’t just a myth! Visiting this poetic manifestation once in a lifetime with your loved ones is nothing but a privilege.
Rich Architecture
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French jeweller and visitor to the Indian court, wrote of Shah Jahan himself that
“there was no-one more proficient in the knowledge of stones in the whole of the Mughal Empire”.
Taj Mahal is known for the its extravagant stones. First of all, we have the white translucent marble which reflects sunlight and is described by Kalim, ‘Mughal court poet’ as ‘resembling dawns bright face’, Throughout the Islamic world, the colour white symbolizes mourning, making marble particularly suited to use in the construction of tombs. Then we have the mosque built of red stone. Then there are intricate and completely intriguing detailing’s made out of precious gemstones such as – Lapiz Lazuli from Hind Kush, Jasper from Punjab, Sapphire from Sri Lanka, Crystal from China and Carnelian from Arabia. Makrana, Rajasthan from where white marble was imported under the supervision of Raja Jai Singh has recently been classified as the Global Heritage Stone Resource of Asia.
Romantic History Of The Kohinoor
Kohinoor in Persian means the ‘Mountain of Light’, it is believed that Kohinoor is 5000 years old diamond which weighed 186 carats (37 grams) before it was cut down by Britishers in Netherlands. The first documentation of Kohinoor was in 1526, when it was under the possession of Mughal ruler Babur, who even claimed that once the diamond was in the possession of Maharaja of Gwalior in the 13th century. When Shah Jahan was captured in Agra Fort, by his son Aurangzeb he used to look at the Taj Mahal in the reflection of Kohinoor studded in his Peacock Throne at Taj Mahal. Later, Shah’s son, Aurangzeb brought the Koh-I-Noor to the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. It was robbed from there by Nadir Shah who took the diamond to Persia in 1739, but the diamond found its way back to Punjab in 1813 after the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, Shuja Shah Durrani took it to India and made a deal to surrender the diamond in exchange for help in winning back the Afghan throne. The Britishers came across the gem when they conquered Punjab in 1849, and Queen Victoria got it in 1851. Today it is displayed at the Tower of London. Exact value of the Kohinoor Diamond is not known, but in the 1500s it was considered that the diamond’s value corresponds to about half of the world’s total production costs in one day. Infact the romantic history of the diamond makes it monetarily unquantifiable! However, its estimated to be priced at around $12 billion. Even Darya-I-Noor in Iran is considered as its double. Lastly the place which once hosted this priceless diamond i.e. The Taj is a must visit.
Let Treasure Trip India take you through the Vacation to Taj Mahal of witnessing the grandeur yet serene beatitude of the structure with Agra Tour Package or One Day Agra Tour as per your requirements.
