- India 2004. Commemorating the 350th anniversary of the completion of Taj Mahal.
Taj Mahal (1983)
India
An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.
Taj Mahal, for centuries, has
inspired poets, painters and musicians to try and capture its elusive
magic in word, colour and song. Taj Mahal which stands on the banks of
Yamuna River in the city of Agra took 22 years to complete the
construction. The construction of the Taj Mahal was completed in the year
1654. According to Tavernier, an eminent traveller and historian of those
times, recorded the number of workmen engaged in the construction as
20,000. The construction materials were brought from all over India and
Asia. A fleet of 1000 elephants were used to transport the materials to
the site. 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into
white marble to create this wonder of the world.
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Taj Mahal was built in the
memory of the beautiful Arjumand Bano Begum, who won the heart of a Mughal
prince. She was married at the age of 21 to Emperor Jahangir’s third son
Prince Khurram and stayed loyally by his side through good times and bad,
in the luxurious royal palaces of Agra as well as the transient tents of
war camps.
When Khurram became ruler in 1628, he took the name of Shajahan meaning “King of the World” and showered his beloved Begum with the highest titles. She became Mumtaz Mahal, the exalted of the palace, and Mutaz-ul-Zamani, the exalted of the age. But Mumtaz Mahal was not destined to be Queen for long.
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In 1631 when Mumtaz Mahal died at the age of 39, the aggrieved Shahjahan vowed to build a memorial that would surpass anything ever created in the world. This ambition of Shahjahan even persists now also, depicting the true symbol of eternal love to the entire world.
Sources and links:
Other World Heritage Sites in India (on this website). Inactive links are not described on postage stamps. Please refer to the UNESCO-listing, India-section, for further information on the individual properties.
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Revised 21 jul 2006 |
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