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India @ a glance ... |
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Information Zone -
Travel |
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Int'l Air Travel
:
Just about all major international airlines fly into India. Major
international airports include Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata
(Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), (Trivandrum) Tiruvananthapuram ,
Bangalore and Cochin ...
Domestic Air Travel :
This is also well organised. Apart from the govt. owned Airlines
many private airlines and low cost carriers operate to various
destinations all over the country. All state capitals and major
towns are connected by air.
Train Travel : The
Indian Railways have the fourth largest rail network in the world.
Just about every Indian city, town and village is connected by
train and it is one of the best ways to get into the interiors of
the country.
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THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA |
blog.dreams2choose.com |
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| TAJ
MAHAL has made AGRA the most sought after destination in the world.
Described as the most extravagant monument ever built for love, this
poignant Mughal burial tomb had become the tourist emblem of India. TAJ
MAHAL is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular buildings of the world.
Renowned for its architectural magnificence and aesthetic beauty, it counts
among man's proudest creations and is invariably included in the list of the
world's foremost wonders. As a tomb, it has no match upon earth, for mortal
remains have never been housed in greater grandeur. |
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HISTORY OF TAJ MAHAL |
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In 1612, Arjumand Banu Begam, better known by her other
name , Mumtaz Mahal was married to Shah Jehan (then Prince
Khurram), the fifth mughal emperor. This marriage, although the emperor's
second, was a real love-match, and Mumtaz was her husband's inseparable
companion on all his journeys and military expeditions. She was his comrade,
his counsellor, and inspired him to acts of charity and benevolence towards
the weak and the needy. She bore him fourteen children, and died in childbed
in 1630 (only three years after his accession to the throne) in Burhanpur in
the Deccan where she had accompanied him on a military campaign. Overpowered
by grief, Shah Jehan was determined to perpetuate her memory for immortality
and decided to build his beloved wife the finest sepulchre ever - a monument
of eternal love. It was Shah Jehan's everlasting love for Mumtaz that led to
the genesis of the Taj Mahal. The sad circumstances which attended the early
death of the empress who had endeared herself to the people inspired all his
subjects to join in the emperor's pious intentions. After twenty-two
laborious years, and the combined effort of over twenty thousand workmen and
master craftsmen, the complex was finally completed in 1648 on the banks on
the river Yamuna in Agra, the capital of mughal monarchs.
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).
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CHANGING COLOURS OF TAJ |
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TAJ MAHAL acquires a different hue at different time of the day. You might
have seen Taj 15 times but when you return back to see it 16th times, you
will find it something different from the earlier visit. The Taj at noon,
the Taj at sunset, under the full moon, against the setting sun, and against
the rising ball of fire, each time the mausoleum acquires a different accent
and tells a different story. It was a reminder of the love of a king for his
queen Mumtaz Mahal who could inspire such a monument and also of the king
himself who could sign his love across the horizon.
Whichever story it tells, there is a certain vulnerability, a softness about
Taj Mahal that always touches the visitor. The white structure, actually
nothing but a grave and yet so much more, stands unassumingly in spite of
the yellowing pollution retaining a certain charm that takes the breath
away.
The glory of Taj Mahal as seen today is considerably reduced. Historians and
travelers have recorded a spectacle of grandeur and extravaganza when
Shahjahan had built it. The beautifully laid out gardens holding out the Taj
almost a thousand feet away from the entrance gate are said to have been
beyond description. It is said that the gardens are modeled along the
Persian Char Bagh style. Paved inroads divide the patches of green and
little fountains and mark the two halves of the garden.
The Taj stands on a raised platform. At the entrance there are two sets of
stairs, one leading to the real sarcophagus and the other to cenotaph
counterparts. Rising on all four sides are minarets and in the center lies
the magnificent dome over the central hall. The dome is crucial to Islamic
architecture, cosmologically uniting heaven and earth. The square edifice
represents the material universe while the dome symbolizes the vault of
heaven. The Taj itself is octagonal and the base is said to represent the
transitional phase. The finial, the golden needle at the top is indicative
of the region of transcendence.
On the grave itself 99 names of Allah are inscribed and it is said to have
lain inside a gem-encrusted balustrade. On it were placed bowls of jewelry,
all of which together could still not match the beauty of the one who lay
interred there. Persian carpets and sheets of silver for the door keep the
silence in the mausoleum in splendorous solemnity. From the ceiling hung a
glittering golden globe with convex mirror. While there were other
chandeliers too, this was the most beautiful one and had come from Aleppo
and it constantly wove patterns in the room.
The Taj is known for its excellent work of embedding precious stones in
floral pattern on the wall, the art known as pietra dura. It is said that
one single bloom has as many as 35 different precious stones, be it agate,
lapis lazuli, coral, or onyx. The favorite flowers were lilies and
honeysuckles. Today much is left to the imagination for all of it has been
plundered and destroyed in periods of turbulence.
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