What I realised after visiting Taj Mahal

Source: @vogue_and_voyages

Taj Mahal being one of the Seven Wonders of the world has fascinated me since childhood. Just as any other person, I had the basic knowledge of Taj mahal before visiting, like Shah Jahan built this mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz and that its made of marble which took 22 years to complete and also that hands of workers were cut at the end so they won't make anything similar again. Little did I know that I actually knew very less and that too some of it was wrong.

So recently when I got a chance to witness the grandeur of Mahal, I wanted to know everything about it, because for me the heart of anything always lies in details. And as I spoke with the locals, I came to know a lot of fascinating things which gave Taj Mahal a whole new dimension for me. And also made me realise some of the things about my life. Hence sharing with you the facts I was unaware about at first and my realisation at the end of the visit.

Source: @vogue_and_voyages

1)Mumtaz died at the age of 39 in 1631, giving birth to her 14th Child. Out of 14, 6 children lived a considerable amount of time, while 8 died during birth or within days/months of birth.

Mumtaz was a Persian Princess, and the most loved of all wives of Shah Jahan. He built Taj Mahal in honour of her memory.

2) It was built as a symbol of Mumtaz's palace in paradise. Though it was mainly built for Mumtaz, there are architectural pieces built for his 14 children with Mumtaz and tombs of his other 2 wives and his favourite servants.

3) There are passages from Quran scripted on Taj Mahal in honour of his 14 children with Mumtaz. The letters are made from Jasper or black marble as it is called and are inlaid in white marble. The real beauty of it is that when you see these letters from ground level to eye level to top-level the letters seem of the same size. They were designed in such a way to null the effect of the perspective of sight. So much thought and so much efforts.

Source: stock.xchang

4) Though the architecture of Taj Mahal is Heavily influenced by Islam as Shah Jahan followed Islam, we can find some of it coming from the Hindu religion as well, as his mother was Hindu. The domes, the arches at some places are just like Hindu temples

You can figure that out easily.

5) Taj Mahal has a wooden foundation laying over a number of water tanks. The Timber wood becomes stronger when in contact with water. The continuous supply of water comes from Yamuna river. In case of an earthquake, Taj mahal won't be destroyed easily but will float on water tanks.

6) The 4 Minars (pillar-like structure) on four sides of Taj Mahal are inclined outward by 2.5 degrees, so in case of an earthquake, they'll fall outside and not on main structure.

7) The real beauty of architecture and art of Taj mahal is that the floral design is not painted but inlaid in white marble made from real gemstones brought from various parts of India, Srilanka, Tibet, Afghanistan, Arab.

During the night, when moonlight strikes these gemstones, they glow in the dark giving an amazing view.

Source: stock.xchang

8) After Taj Mahal was built, Shah Jahan was arrested by Aurangzeb, his son and was kept in Agra fort. Aurangzeb then seized the Throne.

9) After the arrest, Shah Jahan could only see Taj  Mahal from his cell window in Jail and died after 8 years. His 2 daughters then insisted to bury his body besides Mumtaj's body in Taj Mahal.

10) It is a very popular myth that hands of workers were cut off after construction of Taj Mahal but that's not found to be true. The workers were merely made to sign the contracts according to which they won't build anything similar after that and won't leave the country.

On seeing how much architectural and artistic excellence, as well as so much of thought, was put into each and every piece of it, it is clear that Taj Mahal is not a mere beautiful building, but an emotion. Emotion so strong and determined that it drove Shah Jahan to put all his resources, money and 22 years into creating it. Creating something where every piece had some significance and thought behind it, relating to Shah Jahan's close ones.

But in the end, the one for whom he mainly did all this, couldn't even witness it. Not just her, even Shah Jahan could only see his dream project from a cell in the jail for rest 8 years of his life.

Whilst my way back from Taj Mahal, I couldn't remove the image of beautiful gemstones inlaid so beautifully on the structure from my mind. When something struck me...

Isn't our life similar to Taj Mahal? The white marble shining in sunlight being our journey of life, the beautiful carvings on it being time spent with our loved ones and the colourful gemstones being love or affection put by our loved ones in our lives, which are the only things that glow when lights go down in the end, just like flashes or highlights humans are said to see when the final time comes.

And while thinking about Taj Mahal of my loved ones, I realised that even if I love them, I have never been good at expressing it from time to time. I have been placing 'true but invisible' gemstones in their Taj Mahal 'assuming' that they know the gemstones exist. But in the end, when their time will come, this question will haunt me for the rest of my life that whether they really saw my gemstones? Or at the end when all went down they could see nothing there? Will I have to lay visible gemstones in their Taj Mahal after they have gone, to get some closure for me?

Source: vogue_and_voyages

And as I stood outside Taj Mahal looking at it, I decided that I won't let that happen. I will let people know how much they mean to me often and I will fill their Taj mahal with every gemstone that I can.

To spreading love... To expressing more...