IMG_4365bc Taj Mahal at Sunset

Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; The Taj Mahal is considered as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles; In 1983, Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage"; While the white domed marble mausoleum is most familiar, Taj Mahal is an integrated complex of structures and was completed around 1648; Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered as the principal designer of Taj Mahal under the strict desires and commands of Emperor Sha Jahan whose project was to build a black repliqua on the other side of the Yamouna River for his own tomb; In 1631, Shah Jahan, Emperor during Mughal's period of greatest prosperity, was desperate when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum; The love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal but recent researches descripting the engraved letters on the monument say that Sha Jahan had the idea to build nothing less than the throne of God on earth! The construction of Taj Mahal begun soon after Mumtaz's death with the principal mausoleum completed in 1648; The surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later; It is the major monument among those voted as the new Seven Marvels of the World; India Uttar Pradesh State Agra Taj Mahal.

 

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