Taj Mahal May Disappear

As you know, I like Taj Mahal a lot.And I think that I am not the only one. Unfortunately, however, I have heard bad news about this piece of beauty- it may collapse in 2 years time. This means that, if you want to visit it and you want to take some pictures of it, you better hurry.

The reason.

Well, the foundations of the building are made of wood and because this wood is now very very old, it starts to decay. How much will it last, no one knows.

What the authorities do, in order to prevent this?

They cover the foundations with different substances that should protect them to shrunk. Unfortunately, such measures can help, but only partly. Big reconstruction should be done, if they do not want this world wonder to collapse.

What is the best case scenario?

Well, as you can imagine, the building is very old and very heavy, so these foundations should be reinforced in some way. If that is not possible, the building may become slightly on one side or even destroyed.

Taj Mahal - a Symbol of Eternal Love

Today Taj Mahal is known with one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It is described as the “passion of an emperor's love” because it was built by emperor Shah Jahan from the Mughal dynasty in the memory of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal.

The story is quite interesting and started when Jahan's wife was still alive. She made a commitment with her husband that he has to build the Taj and visit it on the anniversary of her death. Bond on his promise to the love of his life the emperor ordered the building of the Taj Mahal to be started and so 20 000 Indians were employed for the job. The masterpiece was designed by Ustad who was an Iranian architect. The workmanship was so beautiful and perfect that people say the Taj Mahal was started by giants and it is finished by the finest jewellers in the world. After the death of Shah Jahan he was buried next to his wife in the Taj's chamber.

The monument was designed to provide different views of the beautiful woman. The main gate is like a big veil, covering the woman's face. The Indian tradition stated that the veil should be lifted gently so the beauty of the bride can be fully revealed.

Nowadays Taj Mahal is like a sparkling jewel in moonlight. It changes its colour during the daytime, for example the monument is pink during the sunrise and golden when the moon is shining. This design was made to show the changing mood of the woman.

Now the people have different views of the Taj Mahal, but they can not deny that it is a fine and a beautiful masterpiece of eternal and pure love.

Taj Mahal

Now standing as a part of the New Seven Wonders of our world is the glorious and magnificent dedication to the love called Taj Mahal. Build by Shah Janhan for the honor to the his beloved wife. She died giving birth to Shah's 14^th child.

Taj Mahal

The building of the monument took 22 years and 20 000 skilled craftsmen from India and abroad. It was finished in 1653. Taj Mahal is a fabulous complex which inludes the dome made from white marble, the wonderful garden with fountains and many other eye catching things. Inside the Janhan's wife tomb you can find immaculate sculptures, inlaid designs of flowers and calligraphy made from gems. The monument is a fine example for the Mughal architecture using elements from Persia's, Islamic and Indian style for building. In 1983 Taj Mahal became the next UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since the year 2003 more than 3 million tourists comes to see the 171 meters high marble from the city of Agra.

Decorations like the Exterior are the best in Mughal architectural history. It has a proportionally refined decorations which follow the changing surface area. Decorations were made using hard work and stucco, pain and carvings. The text are signs of judgment and include:
Surah 91 – The Sun
Surah 112 – The Purity of Faith
Surah 89 – Daybreak
Surah 93 – Morning Light
Surah 95 – The Fig
Surah 94 – The Solace
Surah 36 – Ya Sin
Surah 81 – The Folding Up
Surah 82 – The Cleaving Asunder
Surah 84 – The Rending Asunder
Surah 98 – The Evidence
Surah 67 – Dominion
Surah 48 – Victory
Surah 77 – Those Sent Forth
Surah 39 – The Crowds

The interior decorations are far beyond standart decorative elements. They are from lapidary of precious and semiprecious gemstones.

Taj Mahal Mosque Interior Hall

The famous Taj Mahal garden is a 300 square metres charbagh or known as Mughal Garden. It's quarters are divided by raised parthways. The raised marble tank is called Hawd al-Kawthar which is close in architectural look to the “Tank of Abundance” promised to Muhammad.

By the end of 19^th century bits of Taj Mahal have fallen badly in non repair state. British soldiers defaced it in the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857.

But even after such harsh life Taj Mahal is still being one of the best tourists sites in the world of today.