What’s Taj
Mahal
Taj
mahal is a mausoleum for some woman.
Her name is Mumutaz Mahal.
Actually the name of Taj Mahal comes from her name. And the person who built Taj Mahal is Shah
Jahan. He is Mumutaz Mahal’s
husband,. Taj Mahal’s construction work
started in 1632, and completed in 1653.
Where’s Taj Mahal
Taj
Mahal is located in Agra. There are
some reasons that taj Mahal was built in Agra.
Firstly, it’s common that a mausoleum should be built at the garden in
Mugal tradition. Secondly, there is
firm ground in Agra. Agra is located at
north of India. And it takes 4 hours
from Delhi, if you take a train.
Who’s Shah
Jahan
Shah Jahan is the emperor of the India in mugal
era. He born in 1592 and died by
1666. His wife’s name is Mumutaz
Mahal. And he is not Hinduism but
Islam.
Purpose of Construction
As I said taj mahal is the mausoleum for
Shah Jahan’s wife, actually women basically don’t have mausoleum after her
death. Why Mumutaz Mahal has her
mausoleum? Answer is that she died of
confinement by childbirth when she give birth to her 14th
child. In Islamic world, it is thought
that women’s death of confinement by childbirth treats alike men’s death in
holy war. Islam demands to women love
and birth of children for men. So she
was understood as a saint in that era.
Black Taj Mahal
By the
plan black Taj Mahal is built as Shah Jahan’s mausoleum after his death. There is bilateral
symmetry between white Taj and Black Taj.
But after his death there are struggles for the power, because he had 14
children. So Black Taj Mahal was not
built.
When Taj Mhal was added to the world heritage
And Taja Mahal was added to the UNESCO world heritage
in 1983, and to the new 7 wonders of the world in 2007. The reason is that Taj Mahal is understood as
masterpiece which proves human being’s power of creation
.
.
And other new 7 wonders of the
world is Chichen Itza
(Yucatán, Mexico), Christ the Redeemer (Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil), Colosseum (Roma, Italy), Great wall of China (China),
Machu Pichu (Peru), Petra (Ma'an Governorate, Jordan)
Islam and Hinduism
Islam is the second popular religion in the world. By the way, Christianity is the most popular, and Hinduism is the third popular in the world. When Shah Jahan was the king, he oppressed Hinduism and recommended Islam. So, Taj is Islamic building. Then, why did he oppress Hinduism? When Babur, who defeated Roddy dynasty, built Mughal Empire, they believed in Sunni, the sect of Islam. However, most of the people there believed in Hinduism. In other words, conquerors controlled people who adhered to Hinduism. So empires before Aurangzeb tried to maintain harmonious relations with the people who believed in Hinduism, but he started to insist that they were Muslim in the second half of 17th century. Shah Jahan took over Aurangzeb’s policy. In conclusion, Shah Jahan oppressed Hinduism.
Buildings around Taj Mahal
Around Taj, there are many building. I’ll inform you about two buildings. First of all is Minaret. They normally worship from this tower attached to a mosque, but the tower at Taj is a symbol of just decoration, so they don’t worship from this Minaret. There are four minarets there. These four minarets were the way of expression of four waiting maids for princess, Mumu Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan’s wife. They emphasize the main imperial Mausoleum, and contribute the whole balance.
The second building is Arch. This inherited the structure style of Timuru dynasty. When you pass through the arch, you finally find Taj Mahal.
Then, what is the structure of Timuru dynasty like? It is characterized by tiles. On the contrary, the structure of Mogul dynasty is characterized by stones. The main ingredient of building is reddish brown sandstone. So the building’s color is red in the many case. Because of that color, we feel that building is solemn and grave. Moreover, the pattern is also peculiar. It expresses plants. By the way, one descendant of Timuru built Mogul dynasty, so two dynasties are related. So the arch inherited the structure of Timuru indeed, from the fact that arch’s color is red, we can guess that arch is mostly Mogul style.
Then, what is the structure of Timuru dynasty like? It is characterized by tiles. On the contrary, the structure of Mogul dynasty is characterized by stones. The main ingredient of building is reddish brown sandstone. So the building’s color is red in the many case. Because of that color, we feel that building is solemn and grave. Moreover, the pattern is also peculiar. It expresses plants. By the way, one descendant of Timuru built Mogul dynasty, so two dynasties are related. So the arch inherited the structure of Timuru indeed, from the fact that arch’s color is red, we can guess that arch is mostly Mogul style.
Issues
Taj has some problems. First problem is the air pollution. This is because large amount of people visit there by bus, train, airplane and so on.
Second problem is the acid rain. The trees are damaged by the acid rain. This mostly cause by the auto emissions. Many people use the bus or bike to go there.
The third problem is change in quality of marble. This is because subsidence is serious, and the Yamuna River’s water is so duty next to the Taj Mahal. It is said that we have to think about the measure of preserving the marble. Moreover, subsidence causes another problem. Because of the subsidence, the mausoleum’ shape is breaking year by year. As a result, the minarets are leaning year by year. From the outset, Taj Mahal was not perfect, and it is said that Taj Mahal was repaired many times.
Second problem is the acid rain. The trees are damaged by the acid rain. This mostly cause by the auto emissions. Many people use the bus or bike to go there.
The third problem is change in quality of marble. This is because subsidence is serious, and the Yamuna River’s water is so duty next to the Taj Mahal. It is said that we have to think about the measure of preserving the marble. Moreover, subsidence causes another problem. Because of the subsidence, the mausoleum’ shape is breaking year by year. As a result, the minarets are leaning year by year. From the outset, Taj Mahal was not perfect, and it is said that Taj Mahal was repaired many times.
Addition
In India, rupee is the unit of currency. 1 rupee is equivalent to about 1.8 yen. The price of India is very low. For example, if you have only 10 rupees, you can drink a cup of chai. Chai is the very famous drink in India. It tastes a little spicy because when you make chai, you use ginger. In Japan, chai is a match for coffee. However, in order to enter Taj, you have to pay 750 rupees. 750 rupees is equivalent to about 1400 yen. For us, 750 rupees is nothing to pay, but in India it is so expensive. Nevertheless, many local people visit Taj, too. This means that Taj is worth to visit even if they buy expensive tickets.
When entering Taj, you have to undergo strict security check. Moreover, you have to have two kinds of security check, body check and baggage check. What is more, polices have guns! Polices are a little nervous because many people make lines and it is very hot. However, most people are visitors from other countries, so it is rarely dangerous. Polices often talk to each other and sometimes laugh.
When you enter mausoleum, you should take off your shoes. If you do not wear shoes, you can go with bare feet. After taking off your shoes, you cover your feet with simple bags. Instead of using these bags, you have to pay a little money. Maybe the people who demand the money are not official, and they scheme to extort the money from visitors.
Conclusion
Taj Mahal has long history, so you can learn many things from it and it has some problems too because of its oldness. We have to think about how we can maintain this wonderful place.
Moreover, Taj Mahal is sacred and also local, because both foreigners and local people visit there. On March this year, I went there with my friends. Taj was more beautiful than I expected, so I recommend all you should go there.
That is all.
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