Taj Mahal, India

The Taj Mahal of Agra, India is the Seven Wonder of the World, for reasons more than just looking magnificent. It's the history of Tal Mahal that adds a soul to its magnificence a soul that is filled with love, loss, romance, and love again.Because if it was not for love, the world would would have been robbed of a fine example upon which people base their relationships.

An example of how deeply a man loved his wife, that even after she remained but a memory, he made sure that this memory would never fade away. This man was The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who was head over heels in love with Mumtaz Mahal, his dear wife. She was a Muslim Persian princess and he was the son of The Mughal Emperor Jehangir and grandson Of Akbar The Great. It was at the age of 14 that he met Mumtaj and fell in love with her. Five years later in the year 1612, they got married.

Mumtaj Mahal, an inseparable companion of Shah Jahan, died in 1631, while giving birth to their 14th child. It was in the memory of his beloved wife that Shah Jahan built a magnificent movement as a tribute to her, which we today know as the "Taj Mahal". The construction of Taj Mahal started in the year 1631. Masons, stone-cutters, in-layers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other artists were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from Central Asia and Iran, and it took approximately 22 years to build what we see today. An epitome of love, it made use of the services of 22000 laborers and 1000 elephants. The monument was built entirely of of white marble, which was brought in from all over India and Central Asia. After an expenditure of approximately 32 million Rupees, Taj Mahal was finally completed in the year 1653.

It was soon after the completion of Tal Mahal that Shan Jahan was deposed by his own son Aurangzeb and was put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Shah Jahan himself also, lies entombed in this mausoleum along with his wife. Moving further down the history, it was at the and of the 19th century that British Viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908, as a measure to restore what was lost during the Indian rebellion of 1857. The Taj being blemished by British soldiers and government officers who also deprived the monument of its immaculate beauty by chiseling out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls.

Another remarkable feature that surrounds the cenotaphs of Mumtaj Mahal and Shah Jahan in the central chamber is the intricately carved marble screen or jail and is a delight to look at. The semi precious stones forming twining vines, fruits, and flowers inlaid delicately form the rest of the surfaces.