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.
There is no knowing when exactly the construction of the Taj Mahal was completed. The tomb and plinth at the Taj Mahal alone took 12 years to complete. Other features of the complex like the mosque, the guest house, the gateway and minarets were completed another 10 years later. It is estimated that building the structure cost around 30 million rupees in those days. Twenty thousand workers were employed to create this massive structure. Artisans from all over the middle eastern world made up the  creative team.
Unfortunately, history for Shah Jahan, took a turn for the worse, when he was arrested and usurped by his son Aurangzeb. He was put under house arrest at Agra Fort. His death soon followed, and he was buried in the mausoleum next to his wife.
Ironically, the grandeur and also the Taj Mahal history too suffered soon after. In the latter half of the 19th century, the site became derelict, needing a lot of repairs. During the National Uprising of 1857, British soldiers vandalized the place, removing out precious stones for themselves. Lord Curzon, the British Viceroy then initiated a grand restoration project, which reached completion in 1908. This project saw the Taj Mahal being completely restored, the addition of a large lamp in its interior chamber, and the reworking on the garden, transforming it with British style lawns. |
