Shah Jahan
Mumtaz Mahal
Taj Mahal stands on the bank of River Yamuna, which otherwise serves as a wide moat
defending the Great Red Fort of Agra, the center of the Mughal emperors until they moved
their capital to Delhi in 1637. It was built by Shah Jahan (1592-1666), fifth Mughal
emperor of India (1628-58), the third son of Emperor Jahangir, born in Lahore (now in
Pakistan). It was build in 1631 in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim
Persian princess. She died while accompanying her husband in Burhanpur in a campaign to
crush a rebellion after giving birth to their 14th child. The death so crushed the emperor
that all his hair and beard were said to have grown snow white in a few months.
When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from the emperor: first,
that he build the Taj; second, that he should marry again; third, that he be kind to their
children; and fourth, that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary. He kept the first
and second promises. Construction began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty
thousand people were deployed to work on it. The material was brought in from all over
India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site.
It was designed by the Iranian architect Istad Usa and it is best appreciated when the
architecture and its adornments are linked to the passion that inspired it. It is a
"symbol of eternal love".
Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that the
Taj has a life of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a
monument of love. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or
subtracted from it.
But at last I would like to say --- Taj Mahal - A
symbol of Love
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