Taj Mahal : The Image of Internal Love

(by Towel) Most people refer to Taj Mahal as one of the World’s 7 Wonders also known as the Moonlight Garden. It is know mostly by its beauty, its elegance and also by the accuracy of it being symmetrical. But people only know about its physical appearance, the outside face of Taj Mahal. What they don’t know is, that Taj Mahal carries in itself a very unique and delicate history.



The Story behind Taj Mahal

The story dates back to 1607, when a prince of the royal Mughal family, Shah Jahan wandered down the Meena Bazaar when he caught a glimpse of a girl in silk and glass beads. Her name was Mumtaz Mahal. They fell deep in love and married 5 years later. But the king Shah Jahan was grief-stricken when she died on the 19th year of their marriage while giving birth to her 14th child in 1631. And so, he etched her story into stone to remember his beloved wife.

A front view of Taj Mahal.

As Mumtaz Mahal lay on her death bed, she asked four promises from her king:

• First, that he build the Taj to remind him about her forever
• Second, that would marry a 4th bride
• Third, that he be kind and be a king to their children
• And fourth, that he would visit her tomb on her death anniversary.

The king kept her first 2 promises. Construction began in 1632  in the city of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, Republic of India on the other bank of the river Yumana and was completed in the time period of 21 years. 22,000 workmen (stonecutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome-builders called on from all over the central Asia and Iran)  were to work on it, accompanied with a fleet of 1,000 elephants to carry all the materials needed to build this monument.

People visit Taj Mahal

From the site: Taj Mahal, the Ultimate Epitome of Love, it clearly states that:

“The origin of the name the "Taj Mahal" is not clear. Court histories from Shah Jehan's reign only call it the rauza (tomb) of Mumtaz Mahal. It is generally believed that "Taj Mahal" (usually translated as either "Crown Palace" or "Crown of the Palace") is an abbreviated version of her name, Mumtaz Mahal (Exalted One of the Palace).”

I personally believe that this is true because for one, Taj has a similar meaning to ‘tomb’ and Mahal is part of the queen Mumtaz’s name. So in all, it would mean something like: Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb.

White marble.

Taj Mahal was mostly designed by the king himself, a person who had an obsession for symmetry. It was made completely out of white marble... and a very big amount it is: All the white marble there was in India at that time and also, marble from other Asian countries. On those huge pieces of marbles, workmen were to carve shapes of flowers, patterns and letters. 

Modern workmen carve tiny stone flowers on a disk.

If any carving was the slightest bit incorrect, they would have to restart the design on another separate block of marble. When finished carving, workmen had to grind small pieces of gemstones and marbles into perfect tiny sizes, create a beautiful pattern using those pieces, then mix up a special paste and glue them to the indents of the carvings. The glue is also a very special type of glue: Once it dries up after you use it, then you can never use it again.

Flower pattern on Taj Mahal's wall.

I must say that the king had a very ‘unique’ style of showing his love towards his queen. But he was a very cruel king indeed. He took money from his people to build this monument which was completed in 1653 at a cost of 32 Million Rupees (approx USD 68000 and at that time was: money beyond reach for anybody).

Everything is symmetric.

After he completed building the White Taj, he decided to build a Taj out of black marble on the other bank of the river Yumana as a tomb of his own, the connecting the 2 Tajs by a bridge. He knew that it would once again, be getting money from his people but he didn’t care, as long as he got to fulfill his dream.

Shah Jahan decided to build another monument in black marbles exactly identical to the Taj Mahal. This was to act as his burial place, his own tomb. He decided to construct it opposite to the bank of the River Yamuna and connect the two monuments by a graceful bridge in between. Shah Jahan began to build the tomb but the war with Aurangzeb (his son) interrupted his plan. Aurangzeb was not too keen on completing it afterwards because he believed that building another Taj would cost way too much money and where would all that money come from? Of course, from the poor citizens of India. So Aurangzeb locked up his father Shah Jahan who spent the remaining eight years of his life under imprisonment gazing at the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan used to see the Taj Mahal from his balcony. But when he died, he was buried beside his wife Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj Mahal.

Black Taj Mahal - The other half of the wonder became only as a dream of Shah Jahan.

Me, trying to lift Taj Mahal!

This is why, Taj Mahal is such a special place. It has a sad history and also, a tragic one. It was created by a king who loved his wife until the end of his life. This is why, we call Taj Mahal – the image of Internal Love.

Photos and text by Towel (Thao Le)