The construction of this marble masterpiece is credited to the Mughal emperor SHAH JAHAN who erected this mausoleum in memory of his beloved wife,Arjumand Bano Begum, popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died in A.H. 10940(A. D. 1630) . Her last wish to her husband was " to build a tomb in her memory such as the world had never seen beore". Thus emperor Shah Jahan set about building ths fairytale like marvel. The construction of Taj Mahal was started in A.D. 1632 and completed ar the end of 1648 A.D. For seventeen years, twenty thousand workman are said to have been employed on it daily, for their accommodation a small town, named after the deceased empress ' Muntazabad ', now known as Taj Ganj, was built adjacent to it. Amanat Khan Shirazi was the calligrapher of Taj Mahal, his name occurs at the end of an inscription on one of the gates of the Taj. Poet Ghiyasuddin had designed the verses on the tombstone while Ismail Khan Afridi of turkey was the dome maker. Muhammad Hanif was the superintendent of Masons. The designer of Taj Mahal was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The material was brought in from all over India & Centril Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site. The central dome is 187 ft. high at the centre. Red sand stone was brought from Fatehpur Sikri, jasper fron punjab, jade and crystal from China. The main building material (white marvel) was brought fron the Rajasthan. copies of orders issued by Raja Jai Singh, for the purpose by shah jahan, can be seen in the Taj Museum. The Taj has a jewel-like quality.
The main gate of Taj faces the Southern gate. The gateway is 151 ft. by 117 ft. and rises to a height of 100 ft. The main gate is built in red sandstone and measures 30 mt. in height. It is inscribed with verses from the Koran in Arabic. The small domed pavilions on top are Hindu in style.
To the left of the above mentioned platform is the Taj Museum.Original drawingsavailable here show the precision with which the architect had planned this monument. He even anticipated that it would be completed in 22 years. Manymore such breathaking collections are here which can also be seen.
The taj itself stand on a raised platform, the four minarets at each corner of the plinth provide a perfect balance to the tomb, the minarets measure 41.6 m. high and each has a deliberate slant outwards so that in an unlikely event of an earthquake, they would not fall on the tomb but away from it. The bulbous dome of the taj mahal rests on an extraordinarily high durm and rises to a total height of 44.41 mt. from the base of the durm to the apex of the finial, the central dome of the taj is flanked on all four angles by four very appropiate chhatris which though sufciently detached, appear to be attached to the dome, irrespective of the angle of the view.
The interior of the mausoleum comprises a lofty central chamber, a crypt immediately below this and four octagonal orner rooms originally inteded to house the graves of other royal family members. In the centre are the cenotaphs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan's cenotaph is to the left and is higher than that of his beloved which rests immediately below the dome. The cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal stand in the centre of the marble screen, it has inscribed on it in Persian with text from the Koran. The cenotaph has the single epitaph inscribed on it-
"Marqad Munavvar Arjumand Bano Begum Mukhatib bah Mumtaz Mahal Tanifiyal fer sanh 1040 Hijri" (Here lies Arjumand Bano Begum called Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1040 A.H. or 1630 A.D.)
The cenotaph of Shah Jahan is inscribed in Persian-
"Marqad Mutahar Aali Hazrat Firdaus Ashiyani Sahib-qiran Saani Shah Jahan Badshah taab surah sanh 1076 Hijri" ( The sacred sepulchre of his most exalted Majesty, dweller of Paradise, the second lord of constellations, the king Shah Jahan, may this mausoleum ever flourish, 1076 A.H.(1666 A.D.) above the tombs is a Cairene lamp, the flame of which is supposed to never burn out.Marble screen of trelliswork csurrounds the graves". ounds the graves".
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