the Taj Mahal was created because of the love Shah Jahan, the Great Mughal king to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.

But during the birth of their 14th child, she died. Shah Jahan had lost the meaning of life.

Over the grave of his wife, the Shah ordered the construction of the beautiful Taj Mahal Palace, where, a few years later, and he was buried next to his wife.

the Taj Mahal is not just a miracle of light, this symbol of eternal love.

At the time, all the glory of the monumental buildings were given to the customer and not the architect, so it is difficult to answer the question of who built the Taj Mahal. According to some reports, the basic idea of the complex is attributed to Ustad Ahmad, Lahauri.

From 1631 to 1648 - was the construction of the mausoleum , and after 5 years completed the construction of the entire complex.

the Most famous component of the Palace is its white marble dome, which is the called an onion. Height of 35 meters. The crown is made in an Islamic style (the horns of the month directed upwards), which was originally of gold, but in the 19th century it was replaced by a bronze copy.

the height of the mosque is 74 meters. 4 minarets around the perimeter of specially tilted in the opposite direction to during the fall not to destroy the very tomb. The slope is clearly visible in the photograph.

the Palace Itself is a tomb. Inside there are two tombs nothing. And the place of burial of the Shah and his wife are strictly under the tombs, but under the mausoleum.

the walls of the Palace lined with white marble, with images of flowers and vines that encrusted stones such as yellow marble, Jasper and jade.

do Not remember what the guide says, probably complaining about tourists pick out which pieces of the stones to the memory.

the Complex You are greeted by a huge gate. I have never seen this separate building.

view of the gate from the mausoleum.

On the gate caused four verse of the 89th Sura of the Qur'an, speaking to the human soul:

"O soul, thou art at rest. Go back to your Lord pleased and well-pleasing unto him! Come c My slaves. Enter you My Paradise!"

as soon As you pass through the gate, you will see the entire ensemble in full glory. Of course, the first thing you see is a huge white Palace. It is really very beautiful, already the spirit grasps. Then gaze falls on the Central pool, garden around the perimeter and 2 absolutely identical buildings of red Sandstone on the sides of the mausoleum. Outside the walls of the Central structure has several additional mausoleums, where are buried the wives of Jahan, as well as a large tomb of a favorite servant of Mumtaz.

the Whole area is very clean and well maintained. In the garden you can find different animals. But they say that in those years the garden was much richer than in our time.

And now, some facts.

All the construction lasted for 22 years. The pedestal and the tomb of the Taj Mahal was built in 12 years, and the rest of the complex took an additional 10 years.

About 20 thousand people have spent enormous efforts for the building of the complex.

came across the information that the Shah had killed all the artists and architects who knew the secret of building the Taj Mahal. But evidence I never found, so leave this story as a legend.

For the construction of Shah-Jahan had exchanged a large Palace in the centre of Agra for the required land.

Needed to dig a huge pit, filling it with dirt, to reduce the flowability of the soil.

the site Itself was raised at 50 meters above river level.

For convenience, the construction of a forest of bamboo were replaced by huge brick pillars on the perimeter of the Palace. Then, to dismantle these supports took years. To accelerate this process, the Shah allowed the peasants to dismantle these bricks for their own use.

To transport the huge marble slabs and other building materials had to dig in the ground 15-kilometer trench. Chords of elephants and the oxen dragged the gravity on a specially designed carts.

the Guide said that in ideas the Shah was the construction of exact copies of the ensemble, on the opposite Bank. Only the Palace was supposed to be black. But not in time.

After the completion of Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his own son Aurangzeb and arrested in the Fort of Delhi. Soon after he died.

currently, the complex is threatened by serious problems. Due to the pollution of rivers threatened her shallowing and erosion of soils. The mausoleum began to settle in the walls and cracks appear. Air pollution leads to the fact that the white walls begin to turn yellow. To maintain white has to annually clean off this plaque. The government of India urgent measures tries to close the harmful production in Agra, but the effect yet. After all,Taj Mahal is the main attraction of India. About 4 million tourists annually come to see one of the Seven new wonders of the world. The complex brings a lot of money for the state, therefore, by all means, the government is trying to save him. Due to the measures for the protection of nature, entrance on the buses here. With special remote Parking oversees electric tram, incl. connecting with tourists.

the Complex is open from 6:00 to 19:00 weekdays, except Fridays, when the mosque held prayers.