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The Taj Mahal |
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The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India.
The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned it as a
mausoleum for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction
began in 1632 and was completed in approximately 1648.
Some dispute surrounds the question of who designed
the Taj Mahal; it is clear a team of designers and
craftsmen were responsible for the design, with Ustad
Ahmad Lahauri considered the most likely candidate
as the principal designer.
The Taj Mahal(sometimes called "The Taj")
is generally considered the finest example of Mughal
architecture, a style that combines elements of
Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural
styles. While the white domed marble mausoleum is
the most familiar part of the monument, the Taj
Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures.
In 1983 the Taj 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.
Agra was the chosen city of the Mughal emperors during
the early years. It was here that the founder of the
dynasty, Babur, laid out the first formal Persian
garden on the banks of the River Yamuna. Here, Akbar,
his grandson, raised the towering ramparts of the
great Red Fort. Within its walls, Jehangir built rose-red
palaces, courts and gardens. Shahjahan embellished
it with marbled mosques, palaces and pavillions of
gem-inlaid white marble. Agra is globally renown as
the City of the Taj Mahal, a monument of love and
imagination, that represents India to the world. |
