The Taj Mahal, built in the Agra district of Uttar Pradesh, India, between 1631 and 1648 AD, is a massive mausoleum made of white marble. A mausoleum is a free-standing exterior building constituted as a monument containing a burial chamber of one or more deceased persons, considered a type of tomb. The name Taj Mahal actually means “crown of palaces”. The Taj Mahal is a very important monument in India and is considered one of the greatest architectural achievements of Indo-Islamic architecture. This architectural style combines Hindu art, traditional in this region, and the Islamic religion. The mixture of the two helped redefine many Hindu traditions in an Islamic form that dominated the region since the days of the Delhi Sultanate Empire, which lasted from 1192 to 1451 AD. This territory, historically populated by non-Muslims, provided a workforce unaccustomed to the Islamic style. Humayun's Tomb built in 1562 AD had a major influence on the design of the Taj Mahal. The structure incorporates elements of Persian influences such as the dome design and arched entrances, as well as contemporary Hindu design elements. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay The immense beauty of the Taj Mahal has earned it the titles of “UNESCO World Heritage Site” and “One of the seven wonders of the world”. World.' It is estimated that the construction of the Taj Mahal cost around 32 million Indian rupees, the equivalent of over a billion US dollars at the time. The Taj Mahal welcomes more than 2 to 4 million visitors each year, with sometimes more than 40 to 50,000 visitors in a single day. The Taj Mahal has inspired people to create copies in other countries. In 2008, a replica of the Taj Mahal was built in Bangladesh at a cost of US$56 million. It took five years to complete the replication with modern equipment. Taj Arabia, a luxury hotel and shopping complex, will soon open its doors in Dubai. It will cost up to $350 million and will be four times larger than the original. Due to the terrible air pollution in Agra, the white marble of the Taj Mahal quickly turns yellow. For this reason, only electric vehicles are allowed to drive near the structure. To get to the Taj Mahal, visitors and tourists must walk or take electric buses from the parking lot. However, this is not the only problem affecting the Taj Mahal today. It is cracking at an alarming rate due to the lack of groundwater beneath the structure. The wooden foundations, once submerged, are believed to be rotting. The towers in the corner of the Taj Mahal begin to tilt more. The Taj Mahal, which stands on a raised platform, is located on the banks of the Yamuna River in a large garden that extends over almost 17 hectares. The entire monument covers an area of ​​42 acres. At the top of the Taj Mahal is a very large dome. The mausoleum is surrounded on three sides by red sandstone walls, with the side facing the river left open. The main portal, also in red sandstone, faces the south portal. The walkway measures 46 m by 35.7 m and reaches a height of 30.5 m. Verses from the Koran in Arabic are inscribed there. The small domed pavilions at the top are Hindu in style and symbolize royalty. You will find a mosque, also in red sandstone, to the left of the Taj Mahal. It is very common in Islam to build a mosque next to a tomb. Even today, the mosque is used for Friday prayers. There are four minarets, which are tall, slender towers, at eachcorner of the base. They are 41.6m tall and each has an intentional outward tilt so that in the event of an earthquake they will fall away from the tomb rather than onto it. A double staircase facing the entrance is the only access to the base and the tomb. The interior includes a large central chamber, a crypt immediately below and four octagonal corner rooms which were originally intended to house the tombs of other members of the royal family. In the center are the cenotaphs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. There is also the garden, which contains raised red sandstone paths that divide it into four segments. A raised square marble swimming pool is positioned between the Taj Mahal and the main entrance. There are many fruit trees and Cyprus trees located along the central raised walkway. The construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1631 AD and was finally completed and opened in 1648 AD. The mosque, main gate to the south, outer courtyard and guest house were added and later completed in 1653 AD. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died on June 17, 1631 while giving birth to their 14th child. Her last wish for her husband was "to build in his memory a tomb such as the world had never seen before." More than 22,000 different artisans from across the empire worked daily for almost 17 years to help build the Taj Mahal. Ustad-Ahmad Lahori was the principal architect and Amanat Khan Shirazi was the calligrapher of the Taj Mahal. Construction of the Taj Mahal Around 22,000 workers, painters, masons, stonemasons, calligraphers and craftsmen from across India and Central Asia were employed during the period. construction period. The marble used for the building came from many different regions of India. More than a thousand elephants were used to transport construction materials to the site. There was a board of architects that oversaw design elements under imperial supervision. It took 10 years to build the main tomb and another 12 years to build the other annexed buildings. Disparities exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on completion since the complex was constructed in different stages. Since the Taj Mahal was built so long ago, there are still many unknowns about its construction. However, we can draw some conclusions about how it was constructed. The mausoleum is the central point of the complex, made entirely of white marble. Marble is one of the oldest and most widely used building materials in the world, having been used to create various statues, historic buildings and much more. Marble is also very durable in a wide variety of weather conditions, which is why the Taj Mahal still looks so beautiful today. It is also very resistant to heat and fire. The Taj Mahal is located on a square plinth raised 50 m from river level, also made of white marble. The main foundation represented one of the greatest challenges faced by the Mughal builders. The sand on the bank had to be stabilized in order to support the massive load of the mausoleum. An area of ​​approximately 1.2 hectares was excavated, filled with earth to reduce seepage and finally leveled 50 m above the river. In the area around the tomb, wells were dug and filled with rubble, iron and stone to strengthen the tomb's foundations. Workers built a giant brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb instead of using whipped bamboo. The scaffolding was so enormous that the foremen estimated itIt would take several years to dismantle it. Once the construction of the terrace was completed, work began on the rest of the complex. The garden trees were planted almost immediately so that they would have plenty of time to grow as work continued. Once the foundations were completed, the walls of the mausoleum as well as the mosque, guest house and gate were built. The basic structure of the Taj Mahal is a large cube with several chambers and chamfered corners and measures 55 m on each of four sides. Each side of the iwan, a rectangular room or space, is framed by a huge pishtaq, the formal door to the iwan. Pishtag is a Persian term for a portal projecting from the facade of a building, usually decorated with calligraphic bands, geometric patterns and glazed tiles. The designs are completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. The bricks used to build the Taj Mahal were sealed with mortar, a material used to fill gaps in masonry construction. To access the highest parts of the construction, workers used scaffolding. They most likely used bamboo and brick scaffolding to facilitate the building and the construction itself. However, it is doubtful that they even used brick scaffolding, so it is more likely that they used bamboo. Abstract shapes are used throughout, including on the plinth, minarets, entrance gate, mosque, jawab and on the tomb surfaces. Elaborate geometric shapes, worked with tracery of incised paint, can be found on the domes and vaults of sandstone buildings. Herringbone patterns provide the space between many adjacent elements. Black inlays are used on white marble and white inlays are used in sandstone buildings. Pathways and floors contain contrasting blocks and tiles featuring various paving patterns. The mortared portions of marble buildings were painted or stained a contrasting color, creating an intricate set of patterns. The inlay of these stone decorations requires very competent labor. These lapidary marquetry specialists were trained by Italian artisans employed at the Emperor's court. At the top of the base of the mausoleum is the marble dome. The dome is almost 35 m high and rests on a cylindrical drum. The dome is often called an onion dome or guava dome because of its similar unique shape. It is decorated with a lotus-shaped motif, which helps to accentuate its height. There are four smaller dome-shaped chhatris placed in the corners, which resemble the onion shape of the main dome structure. Chhatris are domed pavilions commonly used in Indian architecture. The word chhatri means “canopy” or “umbrella”. Their columned bases open through the roof of the mausoleum while bringing light into the interior. Tall decorative spiers, called guldastas, extend from the edges of the walls to emphasize the dome. The lotus motif is duplicated on both guldastas and chhattris. A golden finial tops the dome and chhattris, which is traditional in Persian and Hindustani architecture and design. The original finial was gold but was replaced in the 1800s by a gilt bronze copy. The minarets at each corner of the base are made of blocks of white marble cut into curves. They were connected by black stones to simulate joints. The main gate and the mosque are made of red sandstone. Sandstone was a very popular building material in ancient times. It has been used all over the world to buildeverything from temples to houses and other buildings. It has also been used for artistic purposes to create fountains and statues. It is somewhat soft, which makes it easy to sculpt. The inner chamber of the Taj Mahal contains much more than just traditional decorative elements. Although only the door leading to the garden to the south is used, the octagonal-shaped interior chamber allows entry from either side. The interior walls reach 25 m in height and are topped by an interior dome containing a design of the sun. Eight arches encompass the space at ground level. Four of the central upper arches form balconies, with each exterior window containing an intricate screen carved from marble, also known as a jali. Light enters through the chhrattris-covered roof openings at the corners, as well as through the balcony screens. The jali surrounding the royal cenotaphs is made up of eight marble panels inlaid with semi-precious stones. Since the use of animal or human images is strictly prohibited in Islamic culture, different decorative styles must be used. These decorations included floral designs and calligraphic inscriptions. The inscriptions, which are found inside and outside the mausoleum, are mostly verses from the Koran. Abd-ul-Haqq, a Persian, created the calligraphic decorations of the Taj Mahal. The stones used form several different things like twisting vines, flowers and fruits. The lapidary inlays and exquisite calligraphy panels on each room wall resemble the design elements seen on the exterior of the resort. There are around 30 different types of precious and semi-precious stones that appear in bedroom stone, which makes interior decoration very complex. Inside the coffin are a number of calligraphic inscriptions. The Taj Mahal garden, which leads to the tomb rather than surrounding it, is very different from most Mughal gardens, which are rectilinear in shape and often feature a tomb in the middle. This could be because the Yamuna River itself was also incorporated into the design of the land. The garden extends from north to south, from the gate to the tomb. It is divided into four sections by four intersecting canals, with fountains and cypress trees lining the canals. The four canals meet in the middle in a raised white marble lotus pond. The surface of the pond reflects the image of the mausoleum. In the 1800s, during British rule in India, the gardens were redesigned in the formal English style, with well-manicured lawns. The original garden was decorated with several roses and daffodils. What if it was built today? We already know a lot about how the Taj Mahal would be built today because it has already been replicated many times around the world. These replicas are found in Bangladesh, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom as well as other parts of India. The Bibi Ka Maqbara, located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India, is inspired by the Taj Mahal in Agra. It was built between 1651 and 1661 AD. Azam Shah hoped to build a monument that could rival the Taj Mahal. He lacked the cash flow and skilled labor that his grandfather, the creator of the Taj Mahal, had access to. This resulted in a poor copy of the Taj Mahal. It is reported that the construction of the Bibi Ka Maqbara cost Azam Shah Rs 700,000, compared to the Taj Mahal, which was built at a cost of around Rs 32 million at that time. More recently, the Taj Arabia in Dubai includes a 300-room five-star hotel, apartments, restaurants and shops. The total cost of development was more than 350 million.