MUMBLINGS February 16, 2006

Thousands of tourists go to India every year; their main objective is to see what most consider being one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal.

The average attendance is 10,000 per day, and on weekends as high as 35,000. It costs $17.00. Over a million natives get in for a smaller amount each year.

Most every student of such things would claim the Taj Mahal as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I do not disagree.

The story of the Taj Mahl is interesting and exciting, but also sad.

It was started in1631 by an Emperor who built it in memory of his wife who had died. It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan. The marble building has 22 tiers, one for each year it took the 22,000 workers to complete. When you look at the main entrance, the white marble has writing on it.

It was built from the finest, hardest marble in the world. The structure is built on a platform 21.98 ft high. The main structure of the Taj Mahal is square and is beveled at its corners. Each side is 185.69 feet long, with arched recesses arranged that are two feet high and flank even higher walls in the center, that cover the base of the dome. A huge central dome crowns this magnificent structure. The dome is surrounded by a four-domed canopy, supported by pillars, each which is topped by a small finial. The dome is an important part of Islamic style of architecture, and it is believed to be a link between heaven and earth. While the square structure of the building represents the material world, the dome symbolizes heaven. The octagonal part symbolizes the phase between heaven and earth. The walls are decorated with shallow marble carvings and many examples of some of the finest stone inlay work ever seen. An interesting thing is the fact that the building appears to change colors when the sun goes down and comes up.

People arise early to see the colors at sunrise.

It is said that as many as 35 different types of precious and semi-precious stones were used in the inlay work. These stones were imported from all over the world. The marble was from Rajasthan, crystals imported from China, Jasper from Punjab, agate from Yemen, and the finest coral from Arabia, jewelers provided garnets and diamonds from merchants from 114,000 cartloads of sandstone

In a separate building they demonstrated to us how the inlay is done…they take chips from the precious stones, polish them by hand until they lay flat on a big marble stone…then glue them down. The glue is a secret only known to the descendants of the 22,000 workers, thus making it highly secretive.

When they demonstrate the inlaying process.. they have several small examples, which you can buy. However, they are too expensive and too heavy to bring home.

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Continued

Among the many marvels of the construction is how they make the huge, round domes, and other small ones perfectly round.

The emperor was able to live in the palace for seven years after completion before a terrible thing happened …fourteen children, 10 girls and 4 boys, were born to him and his wife. As was the custom, the emperor wanted his oldest son to succeed him…however, his second son did not agree, so he killed his three brothers, after which he put his father in prison where he later died.

The money, labor and time devoted to this project would be very hard to imagine.

The emperor had kept his promise to his dying wife, that her mausoleum would be the finest structure ever built, and it was. He felt their love was so powerful that he had to do something spectacular for her final resting place. She was later moved from the first burial site to the Taj Mahal, and placed directly under the floor in the center.

To preserve the marble, no vehicles are allowed on the property. You have to remove your shoes, or you are given covers for them. There is no food or drink allowed, or electronic devices. These rules are to protect this beautiful monument.

See you again soon, I hope.