Plunge into the depths of your heart and feel the intense love and passion that drove the Great Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan to build Taj Mahal, a romantic poem in white marble and semi-precious stones as a tribute to his lost spouse, Mumtaz Mahal.
Twenty two long years and enormous amounts of money that went into its
construction could not deter this lover from hiring the best of talents
and almost 20,000 laborers and ensuring that it becomes the most
beautiful building the world has ever seen.
Mumtaz Mehal, his beloved queen, had left for another world but Shah
Jehan carved an eternal place in history for both of them by building
this mausoleum at the banks of River Yamuna. It is almost divine to see
the changing colors of Taj Mahal in the full moon and no-moon nights as
it casts its pearly reflection in the waters of the river.
Just imagine the turbulence and the desperate longing of a lover's
heart who so moved even his hard-hearted son, Aurangzeb, that when he
captured and imprisoned Shah Jehan in Red Fort and mounted the throne,
he made a little allowance for his father. He allowed him to pass his
last days in the area from where he could see the Taj Mahal even while
lying on his bed.
As you are guided through the majestic Red Fort, you will see the place
and can still feel the air of desolation and loneliness that haunts the
area. Sikandra, Akbar's mausoleum, and Itmad-ud-daulah are other notable
places that display the expertise of Mughal architectural style when it
was at its zenith.
