No trip to India is complete without seeing one of the seven wonders of the modern world, a building with a unique history born of love: the Taj Mahal Palace in Agra.
Every year, the Taj Mahal monument receives visits from four to six million tourists worldwide. Interestingly, fewer than 500,000 of these visitors are from overseas; the vast majority are from India. UNESCO has designated the building and its surroundings as an official World Heritage Site. But there is much concern that the sheer volume of foot traffic could harm this wonder of the world. However, it’s hard to blame the people of India for wanting to see the Taj, as the growing middle class in the country finally has the time and money to visit their country’s great treasure.
To get to the Taj Mahal, you must first get to Agra. And to get to Agra, many choose to visit India’s Golden Triangle – Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra – three places where you have plenty to see and do. But below, we’ll tell exclusively about Agra and the beautiful Taj Mahal.
Agra, also called the city of emperors, is located 204 kilometres southeast of Delhi. The old part of this city is medieval, with narrow streets and multicoloured shops selling local handicrafts, especially gold and silver thread embroidery and imitations of Mughal inscriptions in marble.
The town first achieved greatness in the time of the Moghuls and, in particular, the emperors Akbar (1556-1605), Jahangir (1605-1627), and Shah Jahan (1628-1658).
The Agra fort, on the banks of the Yamuna River, began to take shape as early as 1564. Akbar built 2.4 kilometres of surrounding walls from local sandstone. Of the “500 red stone edifices in the exquisite styles of Bengal and Gujarat” built by Akbar, only Jahangiri Mahal still stands. Akbar’s other buildings were demolished to make way for Shah Jahan’s imperial apartments, combining Hindu and Islamic architectural styles. The Mussaman Burj (octagonal tower) is said to have been the place where Shah Jahan lay on his deathbed, looking out over the Taj Mahal.
The story of Taj Mahal
But… how did the Taj Mahal come into being?
Like many of his predecessors, Shah Jahan had several wives during his lifetime. His third wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal, was the emperor’s first great love.
Mumtaz got engaged to Shah Jahan, the third son of Emperor Jahangir of the Mughal Empire, and Princess Manmati on 30 January 1607. The girl was 14, and the prince was 15, but the wedding occurred five years later, on 30 April 1612, in Agra. After the ceremony, Shah Jahan gave her the title of ‘Mumtaz Mahal’ Begum. In between the engagement and marriage, Shah Jahan married Princess Kandahari Begum. After his marriage to Mumtaz, he took a third wife, Izz-un-Nissa Begum, both marriages being considered political alliances.
By all accounts of the time, Shah Jahan was so much in love with Mumtaz that he turned away from his other two wives as soon as each of them gave him a child.
Mumtaz travelled constantly with Shah Jahan during his military campaigns, serving as his confidante and advisor. In their nineteen years of marriage, the couple had fourteen children, eight sons, and six daughters, seven of whom sadly died in childbirth or at a very young age.
In 1628, after Shah Jahan took the throne, he appointed Mumtaz as the sole empress, giving her the titles ‘Malika-i-Jahan’ (‘Queen of the World’) and ‘Malika-uz-Zamani’ (‘Queen of the Age’).
The couple’s residence, the Khas Mahal, part of Agra Fort, was decorated with pure gold and precious stones and had richly decorated fountains. Mumtaz Mahal’s allowance for her expenses was one million rupees a year.
Mumtaz advised her husband both in private matters and in the affairs of the state, and thanks to her beneficent influence, he pardoned many of his enemies or exchanged death sentences for prison terms. His confidence in the empress was so great that he gave her the country’s highest honour – the imperial seal.
On the recommendation of her main lady-in-waiting, Sati-un-Nissa, Mumtaz Mahal gave pensions and donations to the daughters of poor scholars, theologians, and pious men. But her noble mission was soon ended because of her tragic and premature death.
A tragic destiny
Mumtaz Mahal died of a postnatal haemorrhage on 17 June 1631, shortly after giving birth to her fourteenth child, Princess Gauhar Ara Begum, after a labour of about 30 hours. The baby girl survived, but the beautiful Mumtaz died at just 31. Before she breathed her last, Mumtaz asked the emperor for four things: to build her a tomb, remarry, love her sons and visit her tomb on every anniversary.
Her body was temporarily buried at Burhanpur, where she died, in a garden on the banks of the Tapti River.
The couple’s eldest daughter, 17-year-old Princess Jahanara, was so distraught at the loss of her mother that she began distributing jewels to the poor in the hope of divine intervention. Shah Jahan himself was paralysed with grief, and grief sobbed for days. In the period that followed, the emperor was no longer seen in public and reportedly went into year-long mourning. When he appeared again, his hair was completely white, his back was hunched, and his face was streaked with wrinkles. Mumtaz’s eldest daughter, Jahanara Begum, took her mother’s place at court, taking over all official duties.
Shah Jahan was so saddened by the loss of his much-loved consort that he decided to remember the Mahal with a spectacular funeral temple.
Construction of the Taj Mahal and its surroundings began in 1632, a year after her death, and took more than two decades, involving some 20,000 craftsmen – artists, sculptors, engineers – from all over the world. Legend has it that materials were brought in from all over India and other parts of Asia using a ‘fleet’ of 1,000 elephants.
The monument was built according to Muslim law, prevalent at the time, which stipulated that tombs could not be adorned with elaborate decorations as it would be an inappropriate expression of vanity. This rule explains the relatively obscure design of the lower level of the palace, where Shah Jahan laid his wife to rest.
The Taj Mahal is said to have been designed by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, a master architect. White marble from Makrana, 300 kilometres away in Rajasthan, enhances its translucent beauty. So do the floral decorations, the bands of Arabic calligraphy in black marble, and the carved marble screens. The queen’s tomb is complemented by four minarets that lean slightly outwards, so they don’t fall on the main building in an earthquake. To the west of the courtyard is a mosque, its replica known as the javab (answer).
According to legend, Shah Jahan was planning to build a similar tomb for himself, made of black marble, but this remained only a dream. He is buried in the Taj Mahal with his wife.
How to visit Taj Mahal
It’s best to visit the Taj Mahal in the early morning when the number of tourists is slightly lower. The Taj Mahal is open daily (except Fridays) between 6 am and 7 pm. For the even more romantic, the Taj Mahal is open on full moon nights between 8.30 pm and 12.30 am 2 days before and after the peak of the astronomical phenomenon.
Even though the monument is open all day, to experience the full transformation of the Taj Mahal’s colours under the sun’s rays, you must be there at the opening. To be able to enter at 6 am, around 5 – 5.30, you should already be at the ticket office. And get ready for a long day. And be lucky enough to have clear skies, which is quite difficult in India due to pollution.
The geometry and symmetry of the courtyard are perfect. As soon as you pass the entrance gate, the main gate appears in front of you, and then the mausoleum, rising up as if from the middle of the garden and the artificial lakes and canals. The garden is divided into 4 charbagh (“quarters”), and along its entire length is a canal with two alleys on either side. Each of these charbaghs is, in turn, perfectly divided into 4 others, resulting in 16 gardens. In the middle of the courtyard and the water channel, there is a platform where the famous marble bench called “Diana’s bench” stands, which has become famous for the simple fact that it is the perfect place from which to photograph the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal is made exclusively of white marble, a material that changes colour at dusk and dawn and has a special glow when the moon is full. The building is impressive in size and covers an area of 17 hectares. The complex has several buildings, including a mosque and a guest house. Inside the monument is the tomb of Queen Mumtaz Mahal, and the tomb of Shah Janah was added three decades later.
The Taj Mahal is built on a square platform measuring 48 x 48 m. The central dome measures 18 m in diameter, is 65 m high and is bordered by four smaller domes plus four minarets, each 50 m high. The interior and exterior of the building are decorated with inlaid floral details and calligraphy made of precious stones such as agate and jasper. In contrast, the main arches are decorated with Quranic quotations and floral motifs typical of Islamic architecture. The palace garden has wonderful artesian fountains.
Changing colours at Taj Mahal
Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb sits on a marble platform, and each corner of the building has a minaret, while the queen’s coffin is richly decorated with precious stones. The colours and shadows representing flowers and petals are so masterfully crafted that they appear natural. Beyond the grandeur of the tomb, the entrance gate on the south wall is considered a true work of art, decorated with elegant arches.
Measures have been taken to preserve the monument and limit pollution by restricting road access near the building. The tomb, the mosque, the guest house, and the main entrance, the most important components of the huge complex, have remained unchanged, although some restoration work has been carried out over the years.
What is particularly striking about this monument is the spectacular way the building changes colour throughout the day. At dawn, the temple is shrouded in pale pink; during the day, it turns white, and in the moonlight, it turns to gold. Legend has it that the changing colours reflect the changing moods of women.
Visitors to the Taj Mahal can also see the complex’s famous gardens, which historians say symbolise the Garden of Eden, with the four corners representing the world’s four corners.
The original garden was influenced by Muslim culture and is characterised by rich foliage and over 60 carefully arranged flower beds. This landscaping was maintained until India became part of the British Empire, and the colonial power passed its own horticultural ideologies onto the palace lawn. Under British control in the late 19th century, the greenery around the Taj Mahal took on a subtler character more common to British gardens.
The red Agra fort
After visiting the Taj Mahal, the monument erected out of love and remaining over the centuries as a symbol of love, you should also make a trip to the city’s other great tourist attraction: the Agra Fort.
The city’s history began in the 11th century, but research shows that Agra was founded much earlier. The Mahabharata was the ancient name of the Indian metropolis, with the famous Ptolemy being the first person to name the city after Agra. The city is a unique blend of Hindu and Muslim elements, thanks to the constant exchange of kings belonging to the two different cultures.
Agra’s famous fort was built between 1565 and 1573 and stood on the western bank of the Yamuna River, about 2 km from the Taj Mahal. The Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan spent the last nine years of his life here until 1657 when he was exiled following a palace coup initiated by his son Aurangzeb. The UNESCO World Heritage building is clad in red sandstone tiles, hence the name Red Fort, and is the birthplace of Shah Jahan’s grandson.
The walls have two huge gates, each 21 metres high: The Delhi Gate and the Amar Singh Gate – the second of which is the entrance to the fort, which leads into a vast inner courtyard.
Inside the fort, you marvel at the many features and buildings, which reveal their undeniable beauty: a public hall supported by several columns, three mosques, palaces, and a shop called the ‘Zenana Mina bazaar’.
Impressively, the building’s walls were filled with a kind of pipe through which cold water circulated to cool the rooms in summer. A place steeped in history, from where, at one point, you can see the grand Taj Mahal in the misty distance.
Otherwise, Agra has many souvenir shops for tourists with various decorations and wooden figurines, for which India is famous. Taj Mahal miniature souvenirs are the most popular souvenirs for tourists, and everyone tries to buy them themselves. Also, the marble chess is popular. Other marble crafts and red sandstone are also available for purchase. You can buy different kinds of clothes, national costumes and more in shops. There are various cafes and pizzerias in town. Throughout the city, there are small city parks where tourists enjoy spending time.
And, remember, when visiting Agra be careful with jewellery! Many of them have fake stones and are sold at exorbitant prices. Scammers are everywhere in the city. But that can’t make you give up the idea of visiting Agra and admiring the Taj Mahal, the fantastic monument born of love.
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