Famous World Landmarks for Children
The Taj Mahal is Renowned worldwide for its beauty and sculpture. It is essentially a well-known landmark in India.
It is located near the city of Agra in UP state in India.
The Taj Mahal fascinates millions of tourists each year, who visit to see its beauty and keep in mind the romantic story behind its construction.
The Taj Mahal is a Persian word meaning is 'Crown of Palaces' - is an elaborate mausoleum or tomb.
It was constructed greater than 350 years in the past by Emperor Shah Jahan of India as a memorial for his beloved wife named Mumtaz Mahal..
She died while delivering to her last child. At the time of Shah Jahan's first crush with his future spouse when he was only 15 years old and she was 14 of age.
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However, they were married in 1612 just after five years. Their marriage life was happier; Both loved each other very much and were also good friends.
Shah Jahan entitled her wife with the name of Mumtaz Mahal, meaning 'one of the chosen of Palace'. They became the happy parents of sixteen children.
Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 while delivering to her last child. Shah Jahan was filled with grief and decided to build a memorial in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.
He selected to build her memorial on the banks of the river Yamuna in Agra.
1632 was marked as the beginning year of the Taj Mahal construction. It was a huge project: it involved more than 20,000 workers.
The materials were carried by more than 1,000 elephants. The style of the buildings was influenced by Persian, Islamic, and Indian architecture.
The tomb was made with a large slab of white marble. As well it was finished and decorated with many types of ornamental stones.
The extensive patterns of tiles and even careful calligraphy have poems been carved on the walls on almost every surface.
The tomb of Mumtaz Mahal took about 12 years to be completed, but the work construction was not finished yet! The tomb itself is part of a much larger complex and is surrounded by waterways.
It elaborates gardens with water that is positioned to capture beautiful reflections. There are also minarets, mosques, and entrance doors.
The rest of the complex took an additional ten years to build, which meant that it took 22 years to build it.
The cost of construction is approx. 32-35 million Indian rupees, which is equivalent to about US $ 830 million today.
The legend is that Shah Jahan planned to build a second Taj Mahal entirely of black marble as his tomb.
But when his son overthrew him and imprisoned him. He abandoned the plan to come into existence.
As per the source, it is probably believed that at first Shah Jahan did not plan to be buried nearby his wife's tomb. But Aurangzeb, his son buried him nearby his wife.
A little larger tomb was built for Shah Jahan nearby his wife Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, marking the tomb's only location that the symmetry has been broken.
The tomb that appears as Shah Jahan and his wife, actually are false tombs, because they are not really buried in these tombs. Their actual tombs are built underground the Taj Mahal.
Over the many centuries, the Taj Mahal has been continuing to be marked as a symbol of love and beauty.
It has been described as a 'poem in stone', and 'a tear on the cheek of time',
UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site for being "the jewel of Muslim art & culture in India" and a "universally acclaimed masterpiece" has been done.
Today it is a symbol of India and one of the most famous destinations in the world.
It is a permanent symbol of love that was to last forever. I hope you enjoyed learning about the Taj Mahal.