Taj Mahal History
Its a well known fact that Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in remembrance of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. But its is not everyday that one comes across such grandiose idea of love. Though the Taj Mahal was created around 400 years ago, it is ,even today, one of man's greatest construction projects ever undertaken. The history behind the creation of the Taj Mahal history is stuff legends are made of. And the Taj will forever remain the crowning glory for Mughal architecture.
In order to acquire land for the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan presented Maharaja Jai Singh with a grand palace right in the center of Agra. An area of around three acres was excavated and filled up with dirt and leveled 50 meters above the riverbank. In the place where the tomb was supposed to stand, wells were dug and filled with rubble and stone. This was to form footings for the tomb. The scaffolding for this structure was made of brick rather than the traditional bamboo one. It was said that this scaffolding took years to dismantle. The dismantling of the scaffolding was done at overnight as Shah Jahan proclaimed that anyone removing the brick could keep them. A 15 kilometer long ramp was created to transport the marble and other materials that would be required to build the Taj.
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