Taj Mahal Tour

No mirror can reflect your beauty
No camera can catch your grandeur. oh! Taj you are simply beautiful.

Location - Agra, Uttar Pradesh
Best Time To Visit– November to February

The Taj is truly a poem- a tribute to eternal love, elegy in stone, which exhibits a new shade every time one sees it. The Taj is located in the city of Agra. It turns to be dreamy in a monsoon haze, translucent at dawn, sometimes harsh and ordinary in the mid- afternoon sun. Taj is a creation that satisfies the imagination of every spectator, it seems so light, so airy and when seen from a distance it looks as a fabric of mist and sunbeams with its great dome soaring up. This mausoleum is confident in its beauty , a perfect epitome of an architectural style and a metaphor of romantic love and immortality. In December 1631, the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan commenced the construction of one of the greatest monuments of all time in the memory of his beloved and favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal.
History Of Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal, Agra, the most famous of all India's ancient buildings and a prime monument of Mughal art. It was built as the mausoleum of Arjumand Banu Bagam, known as Mumtaz Mahal (the Elect of the Palace), wife of Shah Jahan. Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth at the age of 39. Before she passed, she had her husband promise to build something unique in her memory -- a monument to surpass all mausoleums previously built.

Shah Jahan's eternal monument took 20,000 workers some 20 years to build. A perfect symmetry of stone, it reveals itself gradually, framed by various ceremonial gates and arches. Mumtaz Mahal's white marble casket sits dead centre inside the tomb. Shah Jehan's lies to the side -- the only unsymmetrical object in the centuries-old dream work. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to construct: 20,000 men were said to have been involved in the project.

Architecture
Laid in the formal design of Islamic gardens, the tomb is set on the banks of the river Yamuna, its massive dome and minarets reflecting in the waters of the river as well as the water channels of the garden.

The pure white marble of the tomb takes on the subtle changes in sunshine, and indeed moon light, and seems to change colour throughout the day and night. The tomb is usually open from morning till sundown, but during the full moon, the tomb and its gardens are left open to the public so that we can all enjoy the pearly white Taj in milky Moon light of the full moon. It is a marvellous sight to behold at any time of the year and is a magnet for lovers from around the world. The tomb is lavishly decorated with Koranic inscriptions and carved reliefs. It is raised on a square podium with a minaret at each corner. It is flanked by a mosque and the jawab, a building with no clear function other than the balancing of the composition.. Mosques and tombs of other, less-favoured wives cluster nearby. The cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, who died in 1666, standing in a central octagonal hall, are elaborately carved and surrounded by a perforated screen of marble and semiprecious stones.

Work started on this monument in 1634 and continued for almost 22 years. In total, 20,000 people from India and central Asia worked on the building.
Accessibility
Air: Indian Airlines (Domestic Airline in India) runs daily flights from Delhi to Agra. Kheria Airport (Airport of Agra) is about 6 km from the Agra city centre and is easily accessible by taxis and auto-rickshaws at nominal rates
Rail: Agra is well connected by excellent train services to Delhi such as The Shatabdi Express (2 hrs), Taj Express (2.5 hrs), Intercity Express (3 hrs).
Road: Express bus services (a/c and non-a/c) are available from Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Gwalior, and Jhansi.

Catch this wonder by moonlight..