The Taj Mahal
By David Brasley
Construction
- Commissioned by Shah Jahan, Part of the royal family that ruled most of northern India
- A mausoleum Built for Mumataz Mahal
- Built as a mausoleum across from his place on the Yamuna river.
- Building started 1632 and continued for two decades.
- Made from Marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, (jade, lapis lazuli, and crystal.)
Dimensions and layout
Its central dome is 240 feet (73 meters) and is surrounded by four smaller domes; four slender towers, or minarets, stands at the corners. Verses from the Quran were inscribed around the entrances, and on many other parts.
Inside the mausoleum, an octagonal marble chamber covered in semi-precious stones housed a false tomb while the real one was a the same level as the gardens.
Two Taj Mahals?
The Second one...
Shah Jahan was said to have intended to construct a second grand Mausoleum, where his body would lay after his death. The two Mausoleum would be connected by a bridge that would span across the river. When he was ill and overthrown by one of his son, his dreams were crushed. When he died in 1666, he was buried next to her.