Taj Mahal

Never thought I'd be able to see it so soon in person. It looked so beautiful in pictures and no doubt looks even more amazing in person, a masterpeice of true craftsmanship made of pure Marble it is said in the dark of night when the stars shine in the sky the whole Palace glows and the true beauty of this marvellous building is shown, what makes it more special is the reason behind its construction, "A Symbol of love" A tomb of his beloved, Shah Jahan built this amazing masterpeice for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, in this construction lies Mumtaz Mahal and right beside her tomb is Shah Jahan's tomb(Although the Taj Mahal was built for Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan was also laid to rest in the tomb alongside his late wife.).The Taj Mahal is also the Crown Palace of all Palace's in the World and so the name "Taj" (Crown) "Mahal" (Palace).

And now some facts about the construction:

(Facts given below are taken from other sources) 

• The Taj Mahal took approximately 20 years and approximately 20,000 workers to complete. There were also about 1000 elephants used to transport the materials needed for construction.
• The Taj Mahal complex also has additional mausoleums, a mosque, a reflecting pool and large garden to add to its beauty.
• The Taj Mahal stands at 561 feet tall.
• The material used to build the Taj Mahal is white marble. The marble used in construction was brought from many different countries.
• The Taj Mahal has a large white dome surrounded by four smaller domes. The large white dome in the center is approximately 115 feet tall.
• The color of Taj Mahal appears to change color depending on the time of day. The color change also depends on whether there is moonlight at night.
• There were about 28 different types of precious and semi-precious stones inlaid into the burial tomb of the Taj Mahal. During the Indian Rebellion in 1857, many of the precious stones were stripped from the walls of the tomb.
• There are 99 names of Allah inscribed calligraphically on the side of Mumtaz Mahal's actual tomb.
• The four pillars around the main dome were built to slant away from the dome slightly. This was done to help protect the tomb if the pillars ever collapsed.
• The cost to build the Taj Mahal was about 35 million rupees, which would be about 1 million American dollars. In 1632 that would be an enormous amount of money to spend on a mausoleum. Including the maintenance and the approximate cost of the building would be around $10 billion dollars or more.
• It was rumored that Shah Jahan had the hands cut off from the people who worked on the Taj Mahal once it was complete. His reasoning was that nobody would ever be able to build such a beautiful building ever again. Nobody has been able to prove that this story is true.