Taj Mahal, India

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum in the city of Agra, India. It was built by the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan, in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth at the age of 39. Shortly before she left this world, she asked her husband to build her a tomb that would impress with its beauty. Shah Jahan fulfilled the request of his beloved. The construction of the mausoleum began in 1633. To create this world wonder, 20 thousand workers worked for 20 years. The mausoleum Taj Mahal is built of white marble that blazes red at sunset and turns blue in the moonlight.

Visitors enter the building of Taj Mahal through a portal of red sandstone. The mausoleum Taj Mahal is located in a beautiful garden. The original garden was divided by water channels into four parts with 16 flower beds each. There were 400 different flowers in each bed. The trees planted here were: cypress, a symbol of death, and fruit trees, a symbol of life. Now there is only one pool of water in the middle of the garden, where the mausoleum is reflected.

Its main dome, 70 m high, resembles a huge pearl. In addition to it, there are four smaller domes. On each of them is written one letter - R, X, M, H. Read together they mean one of the 99 names of Allah. The four minarets, 41.6 m high, are slightly inclined outwards. The architect of Taj Mahal planned this so that they could not fall on the tomb in case of an earthquake.

The facade of the mausoleum Taj Mahal is covered with carvings and inlays of colored stones and with inscriptions from the Koran. On both sides of the mausoleum Taj Mahal there are two identical mosques built of red sandstone. One of them is active. Beneath the central hall inside the mausoleum are the tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan. Above them are copies of the sarcophagi, which are decorated with semi-precious stones.

The architecture, decoration and Arabic calligraphy make the complex the finest example of Mughal art. Because of all this, in 1983, the Taj Mahal complex was included in the UNESCO list of world and cultural heritage.