Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is one of the iconic 7 wonders of the world. It is a major tourism spot in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife (out of three), Mumtaz Mahal. It was built in 1631, and took 22 full years to complete this massive structure. The estimated money spent was a whopping 35 million rupees at the time which was a lot then, but which now only equals to about $454.4 aud.
The architecture of the Taj Mahal is a major feature of the building. It is inspired from different styles of architecture, including Persian, Indian and Turkish. The main focus of the Taj Mahal, nicknamed ‘Taj’, is the rounded domes. Its designing was done by Ismail Khan. They are massive domes made of fully in white marble, which has earned its name as the ‘Onion Dome’, or a ‘Guava Dome’. There’s a lotus design carved at the top of the bulbs, which was meant to add height to the building. On the top of the dome, there is a bronze spire. They were originally meant to be made of gold, but were plundered after the Mughal rule declined in the 19th Century. The finial is topped by a crescent shaped moon which its points are turned towards the ‘heavens above’. Since it was placed on a vertical spear like structure, it was meant to remind everyone of the symbol of Lord Shiva. The base of the Taj Mahal has four minarets in each corner. Each of these minarets reach up to a staggering height of 40 meters. Each minaret is built in such a way that it slants a bit towards the outer edge of the whole construction. This was done so as to prevent any kind of damage to the monument in case of an earthquake. The minarets are beautifully carved with intricate designs and had semi precious gems studded at one point of time.
The Taj was made over a period of 22 years, with an estimated 20, 000 people working on it at one time. Taj Mahal is made purely of white marble, which was brought from the quarries of Makrana, in Nagaur district of...