Located in Agra, this magnificent structure has deservedly earned itself a place on every list from UNESCO’s Most Treasured Heritage Sites to the Seven Wonders of the World. While almost everyone has heard of it, there are still plenty of little details that have eluded the public eye.
Here are ten lesser-known facts about one of the world’s most spectacular buildings:
Fact One: The Taj Mahal appears pink in the morning, white in the day and changes its color to golden in the moon light.
Fact Two: The pillars surrounding Taj Mahal are slightly tilted outwards so that in the event of an earthquake they will fall away from the tomb.
Fact Three: An identical Taj Mahal was supposed to be built in black marble instead of white. The base of it can still be seen across the river.
Fact Four: Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials during the construction of the Taj Mahal.
Fact Five: 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble that was used to construct this magnificent work of architecture.
Fact Six: The Taj Mahal is perfectly symmetrical in every way, except for one thing--the two tombs inside are not equal in size. This is because the male tomb had to be larger than the female tomb.
Fact Seven: The Taj Mahal cost about Rs. 32 million, which in today's money would probably exceed $1 billion!
Fact Eight: It took 22 years and 22,000 people to build this structure.
Fact Nine: Emperor Shah Jahan ordered that every worker's hands be chopped off immediately after construction, so that no one could ever recreate the Taj Mahal.
Fact Ten: Despite being the creation of a Moghul king, the architecture of Taj Mahal was globally inspired. It's a fusion of Persian, Central Asian and Islamic architecture.
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