7 Wonders of the World: Taj Mahal, a love story

The legend tells of the love between Princess Mumtaz Mahal and Prince Shah Jahan. During the birth of her fourteenth child, the princess suffered complications and asked her husband, on his deathbed, to build her the most beautiful mausoleum of all. Six months later, Prince Shah Jahan, suffering from grief, begins laying the foundations of the Taj Mahal on the banks of the Yamuna River. But that is only part of the story.

The legend that ends with the Taj Mahal begins much earlier, with the rulers of the Mughal dynasty. Distant heirs of the warlike Mongols (the best known being Genghis Khan), the powerful kings occupied the territory of present-day India, and established a prosperous reign there.

The Mughal dynasty, which ruled India from 1526 to 1707, was marked by opulence and a constant search for beauty. Grandiose buildings combined Persian and Indian styles, with gardens, arches and countless precious stones, which were abundant in the territory.

Upon entering the central palace, the marble inscription on the portal reads: “These are the Gardens of Eden, enter, and live forever.” The paradise that Prince Shah Jahan had commissioned featured marble and sandstone walls decorated with 40 different types of jewelry from China, Pakistan, Tibet, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Middle East. Continuing the walk, the visitor comes across large halls made possible by the fusion of two architectures: Hindi pillars with Islamic arches.

These halls are filled with intricate patterns carved by artisans summoned from all over the kingdom. The peculiarity of Hindi work is the preference for organic and natural patterns over formal geometric designs. This is why the Taj is covered with flowers and leaves composed of up to 70 gems, so that they would be as detailed and delicate as possible.

In the center of the 7 m high cylindrical base, on which the 35 m high vault rests, is the sarcophagus of Princess Mumtaz Mahal, in a coffin illuminated by the filtered light of the mosaics in the stone. Beside her is the The monument's only asymmetry: the prince's coffin, placed there by his son, Aang's ebb, after dethroning and imprisoning his father. The couple's remains are on a level below.

The British conquest in 1857 was a major threat to the memory that the Taj Mahal represented. During this colonial period, the English considered destroying the mausoleum to sell the marble from its walls. Fortunately, at the end of the 19th century, after years of neglect, Such plans for destruction were abandoned and the Taj began to be restored. In 1983, it joined the ranks of the wonders of the modern world and the love between Princess Mumtaz Mahal and Prince Shah Jahan was immortalized in the world's imagination.