The Wonder of the Taj Mahal
The Most Beautiful Wonder
By: Will Seagle
The Tomb
The Taj Mahal is one of the most magnificent tomb in the world. It is also one of the Eight Wonders of the world. It is one of the most visited places in India still today. The structure is made of gorgeous white marble material and other stones. This enormous structure took twenty-two years to build. (The photograph below shows the Taj Mahal.)
The History
The Perfect One
Shah Jahan had three wife's, Mumtaz Mahal was his favorite. He gave the nickname to her which means "chosen one of the palace". They loved each other VERY much! When Mumtaz died, Jahan cried for two weeks straight locked in his room. Mumtaze's final words were to build a palace for their love. She died while giving birth at the age of 74, in the year 1632. (The illustration below is a paining of Mumtaz and Shah.)
Building the "Crown of Palaces"
The King of Tombs
22,000 people were commissioned in 1632 to build the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was located in Agra,Uttar Pradesh. Rumor has it that Shah Jahan chopped off the artists and constructors fingers so they wouldn't build anything more beautiful. Lots of men and women were sent to build the tomb. The nickname of the Taj Mahal is the "Crown of Palaces" The palace has sixteen sunken flower beds, and have walkways in four different directions. (The illustration below is a map of Uttar Pradesh.)
Heavy Loads of Precious Stones
The Most Precious of Precious stones
The Taj Mahal was mostly made from white marble from Makrana, Rajasthan. In the white marble there are at least twenty-eight different types of other precious stones. Many precious stones came from other countries, for example: Jasper came from Punjabe, Carnelian came from Arabia, Jade came from China, Turquoise came from Tibet, Lapiz Lazuli came from Afghanistan, and Sapphire came from Sri Lanka. Servants, and peasants were also sent to build the Taj Mahal, there were many heavy materials so they had to bring in about 1,000 elephants to carry these goods. The Taj Mahal is located on the Yamuna River. (The photograph below is a picture of the Yamuna River.)
Visitors Tour The Couples Tomb
The Beauty of Love
The Taj Mahal is one of the most famous structures in India. In 2003 three million people visited the tomb, by now that number had to double or triple the number in 2003. Mumtaz Mahal was buried beneath the Taj Mahal. Later after the Taj Mahal was built, Shah Jahan died. He was buried next to Mumtaz Mahal, so their love would still be alive in the afterlife. The Taj Mahal is a enormous, beautiful tomb, and has a very detailed history to a tomb. (The photograph below shows were they're buried.)
Bibliography
History.com. http://www.history.com/topics/taj-mahal. 17 November 2014.
Wikipedia.com. 16 November, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal. 17 November 2014.