Taj Mahal: Unknown facts about this beauty you need to know

The heading might seem supererogatory because who doesn’t know about The Taj Mahal? What makes this blog different is that we’ve mentioned some of the unknown facts that lie behind the beauty of Taj Mahal. Being one of the seven wonders of the world, Taj Mahal has always been a poet or a writer’s favourite topic. Now go through the points listed below to get your facts straight.

• Let’s start with the reason behind the establishment of such beauty. In 1631, Shah Jahan’s favourite, Mumtaz died giving birth to their 14^th child (Sigh!). It was the grief of Shah Jahan that led him to commission the establishment of the magnificent tomb, Taj Mahal. Though he married Mumtaz’s sister after that. Ummm, nevermind!
• Though in pictures we all have seen it to be sparkly white, it changes colour depending on the light. When you see it under the warm sunlight or cool moonlight, the shimmering marble gives off a different kind of aura. A pinkish hue could be noticed in the morning, golden at night and milky white in the evening.
• Around 32 million Indian rupees flowed into the construction of this beauty. Around 20,000 labourers from all over Asia were engaged in the construction work which took them 22 years to complete. More than 10,000 elephants transported heavy materials. The monument is bedecked with 28 types of semiprecious and precious jewels. The hands of the workers were cut off so that in future they could never build another monument like that.
• We bet you didn’t know about this. A conspiracy theory places Taj Mahal 300 years before Shah Jahan. Historians say that previously Taj Mahal was Tejo Magalaya, a Shiva temple, built by Jai Singh, a Hindu king. After the death of the queen, her body was brought and laid to rest in Agra. The older temple building was converted into a mausoleum by adorning it with a new dome.

We all know the kind of power rumour has. Here’s one which states that Shah Jahan wanted to build another identical, black-coloured Taj Mahal, next to the original one. But his son, Aurangzeb deposed him. He was buried in the lower sanctum of Taj Mahal, next to his wife. You can see some remains of construction that had started on the other side of the Taj courtyard. Now the question is, did the construction of another Taj Mahal really began? If so, then why didn’t Aurangzeb complete it? Well, the answers now rests with the dead.