INDIA: Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal in Agra probably attracts
more tourists than any other religious monument in the world. Considered the
jewel of Mughal architecture in South Asia, it was built by the Emperor Shah
Jehan, a great patron of the arts, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Each
year an estimated 2-3 million pilgrims and some 500,000 religious tourists
visit the mausoleum. If you see nothing else in India do not miss the Taj
Mahal, especially at night when it assumes an ethereal glow in the moonlight
and when there are less hawkers to disturb the serenity of the site. 20,000
labourers and master craftsmen drawn from across North India, Central Asia
and the Middle East were employed in constructing and embellishing the
complex. 1000 elephants were deployed to transport the building
materials which included the thousands of tonnes of marble quarried in
Rajasthan, a good month's walk from Agra. The white marble panels in the
complex are inlaid with thousands of precious stones- sapphires,
turquoise, amethyst and jade - set in stylised geometric patterns and
swirling floral motifs. Calligraphy in the cursive thuluth script quoting
passages from the Quran is made by the same pietra dura method of inserting
jasper into the marble surfaces. On Shah Jehan`s death in 1658 his
successor, the Emperor Aurangzeb, laid him to rest beside his beloved. In
accordance with Muslim tradition the royal crypt is plain in contrast to the
exuberant manifestation of Mughal art seen elsewhere in the awesome
monument. The Taj Mahal was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983.