Taj Mahal
One of the eight wonders of the world BY: KAITLEN PEREZ
Have you ever thought about how you are going to be buried? About 380 years ago there was a man named Shah Jahan, who was an emperor of ancient India. When his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died he wanted to build a burial in her honor. Did I mention that now it is one of the eight wonders of the world. Mumtaz had a pretty great burial.
Why was the Taj Mahal built?
Well lets start with why the Taj Mahal built. when Shah Jahan was emperor he had at least three wives and of course he had a favorite wife named Mumtaz Mahal. When Mumtaz died giving birth to their fourteenth child Shah wanted to build a mausoleum in her honor. It was a BIG romantic gesture. He had big ideas for this mausoleum.
The construction!
Since I told you why Shah built the Taj Mahal was built. Now I'm going to tell you about the construction. The cost was about 35 million rupees or 8 bbillion U.S. dollars. That's a whole lot of money. The construction took about 20 years, that's 2 decades! The Taj Mahal is made of white marble that changes color due to the sun or moon light. It's decorated with precious stone such as: Jade,Crystal, Lapis, Lazulli, amythist, and Turquoise. To make the Taj Mahal it took about 20 thousand workers and 1 thousand elephants. After the conclusion Shah cut all of the workeers fingers off so they couldn't copy the pattern they used in the Taj Mahal.
Important Facts
The Taj Mahal was commissioned in 1632, and ended in about 1648. The next fact is that it stands on the southern bank of the Yamuna River in Agra, India. I already told you that it was one of the eight wonders of the world and the name Taj Mahal means the Crown Palace. Shah's wife Mumtaz real name was Arjumand Banu. The reason she changed her name was because important ladies of a royal family got a new name at their marriage. I got my information from these websites
Resources
"The Taj Mahal." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 09 Nov.
"The Taj Mahal, India." The Taj Mahal, India. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Taj Mahal." - UNESCO World Heritage Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014.
"India." India. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.