Interesting facts about Taj Mahal - the symbol of Love

New Delhi: India has a rich past of royal kings, emperors, sagas of romance, chivalry, valor, inevitable deceit and much more. And with such a royal past, India is also rich in cultural heritage.Many splendid monuments were built during the reign of various emperors across the country. While some of them have turned into ruins with the passing time, there are some monuments which reflect the majestic past and the story behind it.UNESCO has also declared some of these monuments as the heritage sites. One such site in India is the Taj Mahal which is also known as the symbol of love.Here we present you some interesting facts about Taj Mahal:Known as one of the best known structures in the world, Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz after her death.Built in white marble, the Taj Mahal took twenty two years for its construction from 1632 to 1653.While the architecture of Taj Mahal depicts a combination of Indian, Persian and Islamic styles of architecture, it took around 22,000 people to build this remarkable building.With the construction cost of around 32 million rupees at that time, Taj Mahal was constructed using the best quality marble from Rajasthan, Tibet, Afghanistan and China. Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials during the construction of the Taj Mahal.This beautiful building changes its color at different times of the day, with a pinkish hue in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden at night when lit by the moon.It is believed that these changing colors of the Taj Mahal depicts the changing mood of a woman.There has been a popular myth about the construction of Taj Mahal that Emperor Shah Jahan chopped off the hands of all the laborers involved in its construction so that no such structure could be built again. Taj Mahal also comprises of a mosque in its premises, and is closed for the visitors on Friday. Only those going for customary prayers are permitted inside the Taj Mahal.Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is said to be the chief architect of this majestic structure and the calligraphy was created by a calligrapher named Abd ul-Haq, in 1609.The four sides of the Taj Mahal are perfectly identical creating an astonishingly mirrored image on each side. It uses the principles of self-replicating geometry and symmetry of architectural elements.A total of 28 types of precious and semiprecious jewels are set in the marble. While the turquoise came from Tibet and jade came from China; the heavy white marble, which was the principal building material, was transported from Rajasthan. The pillars surrounding Taj Mahal are slightly tilted outwards so that in the event of an earthquake they will fall away from the tomb.The Taj Mahal was defaced by the British soldiers when they carved out precious stones from the walls of the monument during the rebellion of 1857.At the end of the 19th century, British Viceroy, Lord Curzon, ordered restoration of the monument and also gifted a large lamp which hangs in the interior chambers of the Taj Mahal.After the Taj Mahal was completed, Shah Jahan was dethroned by his son Aurangzeb and was put under house arrest in 1658.Shah Jahan was only able to view the Taj Mahal from his window for the last eight years of his life.After Shah Jahan's death, he was also buried beside the mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal.