The Taj Mahal (1630 A.D.) Agra, India

Hi Friends, I’m back! 😀

I’m really excited to share my travel experiences. Four weeks of Fun!! It was unbelievably hectic! The food, the culture, the weather, the travel, the people…. Loads to tell! But let me begin with, The most amazing moment of my life: When I saw Taj Mahal for the first time, June 24th 2009.

I would call it as,

THE ULTIMATE SYMBOL  OF LOVE

The Taj Mahal is considered to be the seventh wonder of the world. This immense mausoleum was built on the orders of Shah Jahan, the fifth Muslim Mughal emperor, to honor the memory of his beloved late wife.

History of Taj Mahal: In the year 1612, Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan’s name) married a beautiful Persian princess Arjumand Bano. She proved to be his better half and never left her husband’s side in any situation. She even followed him on his military expeditions and hunting journeys. She gave him so much love that Shah Jahan was motivated to lead life in a benevolent and compassionate way. He regularly donated money and other necessities to charities and made sure that people in his kingdom never had a complaint.
While accompanying Shah Jahan on one of his camps, Mumtaz Mahal breathed her last while giving birth to their 14th child.

Shah Jahan was devastated and was so heart broken that he locked himself up in a room for two years. The whole court and empire went into mourning when Mumtaz Mahal died. It is said that when Shah Jahan finally emerged after two years of mourning, his hair had turned white.

Shah Jahan was determined on building the most beautiful monument as a symbol of his undying love for his wife. Thus began the construction of the Taj Mahal.

A council of the finest architects from across continents was appointed to design the Taj Mahal. The chief architect for building the monument was a Persian by the name of Ustad Isa.

A workforce of around 20,000 craftsmen from across the country was employed with 1000 elephants to carry the materials that were delivered from all over the world and it took a period of around 22 years to build the monument.

When the monument was finally built, the grave of Mumtaz Mahal was shifted to the grave chamber in the lower part of Taj Mahal.

The cost of the TaJ Mahal was around 32 million Rupees at the time of its completion, would be trillions of dollars if the price is converted according to the present standards.

But priceless with regards to the love they shared.

No Wonder why its a Wonder!

It was an unbelievable experience for me! A must see for All. Highly Recommended!!!!! 🙂