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Taj Mahal

When it comes to architectural magnificence, the Taj Mahal has yet to be surpassed. No skyscraper, bridge, cathedral, or other work of man has ever equaled the beauty and elegance of this famed monument.

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built at the request of Emperor Shah Jahan (d.1666; formerly Prince Khurram, formerly Shahab-ud-din) to hold the body of his wife Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Banu Begam before she was married.) The building is constructed entirely of white marble, and was once set far away from the main city, though suburban encroachment is becoming more noticeable.

It is this combination of factors that helps give the Taj Mahal some of its mystique. There are no nearby structures to interfere with the play of light. At dawn it turns pink, infusing itself with the colors of the rising sun. At sunset its shadows dance in a bath of blood red fire. At night, especially during a full moon, the building seems to glow from some inner blue flame. And when there's a low fog from the Jamuma (Yamuna) River, the entire affair can appear as a mirage floating on a cloud.

In reality, the building sits on a base of marble 186 feet by 186 feet. The corners of this square are cut off, forming an unequal octagon. Its dome is 213 feet high, and is surrounded by four smaller domes. The minarets are 162 and half feet tall. The Taj Mahal is amazing in its design. The most recognizable geometric element is the use of symmetry; and replicating forms are abundant.

Seen from the front, the central portico is flanked by half-sized reproductions of itself. These are then flanked by another set of angled porticos. Placing the smaller elements on the outside helps give the illusion that the building is much larger than it actually is, and that the sides are trailing far off into the distance.

The technique is called "forced perspective" and has been used in a number of buildings, including the Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World in Florida, USA. Inside, the entire affair is decorated with designs made from precious gems. Some are flower patterns, others are Islamic script.

The tomb itself is protected by a marble screen more than six feet tall. This was originally made of gold, but replaced with marble to dissuade vandals. In keeping with Islamic tradition, the bodies are lying north to south with their faces turned toward Mecca. As amazing as the Taj Mahal is, it is only one part of a much larger complex.

There is also a mosque, a guesthouse, two formal gardens flanking a reflecting pool, and other buildings behind an immense detached gateway. The gardens illustrate a detailed knowledge of hydrology. Throughout the gardens is a system of gravity-powered fountains. Ordinarily, running a pipe with a number of holes in it would result in each subsequent fountain having a smaller and smaller plume.

The designers got around this limitation by building bulbs into the pipes under the fountains. These bulbs fill with water before the fountain can spring, and help provide uniform water pressure along their entire length. Nine hundred feet from the tomb is the main gateway. It is 100 feet high, 150 feet wide, and made of red sandstone. Its main feature is the massive central arch, but also worth noting are the flanking octagonal towers and the marble copula at the top of the gate.

The door is made from eight different metals and studded with a number of knobs. Like the interior of the mausoleum, the gateway features white marble inlaid with precious gems. There are inscriptions from the Koran in black marble, which form an optical illusion.

They get larger as they get higher, giving the impression that they are a constant size. This is the opposite of the forced perspective trick noted above. The Taj Mahal's mosque is again made of red sandstone. The floor has been textured so that it appears to be velvet red in the shade. Black marble has been used to designate the locations of 539 prayer carpets. The building's most interesting feature may be a piece of white marble polished so it reflects the image of the Taj Mahal. The mosque has a twin on the other side of the Taj Mahal. It is known as the Rest House, the Guest House, the Naqqar Khana, or sometimes the Jawab ("Answer"). Unlike the mosque, it faces away from Mecca, so it is never used for prayers.

At one time it was believed the Taj Mahal was designed by French silversmith Austin de Bordeaux, or Geronimo Veroneo of Italy. Both of these theories were later proven wrong.

The Taj Mahal contains marble from Rajasthan, jade and crystal from central Asia, turquoise from Tibet, amber from Burma, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, chrysolite from Egypt, and shells, coral, and mother-of-pearl from the Indian Ocean.

June 2001 – It's renovation time at the Taj Mahal. The Taj Group of Hotels and the Archaeological Survey of India will fund updated landscaping and tourist facilities, architectural repairs, and the construction of a freeway from Delhi to Agra. The project should take 15 months to complete.