Work Boots Wear
The Taj Mahal was built in Agra in India in the seventeenth century, commissioned by Shah Jahan in honour of Mumtaz, his wife who died in child birth. She died in 1631, and work started on the Taj a year later. The main structure was completed in 1948 but the gardens and general surrounds took a further five years.
It remains an absolute wonder, a mausoleum of such precision that if it was cut in half down the middle the two pieces would be identical save for one thing. When Shah Jahan died, his son Aurangzeb who had deposed and imprisoned him buried him next to his dead wife.
At that time Agra was Shah Jahans Capital. The site of the Taj was close to the River Yamuna, making the transportation of materials a little easier, though the bulk of the heavy work was done by as many as 1000 elephants. It was quite a task to get the heavy marble blocks to the site.
Materials came from all over India and beyond. Precious stones from far and wide were inlaid into the white marble.
The project was an enormous task and took many years to complete, using a total of twenty thousand workers, some skilled but the vast majority merely labourers without more than basic clothing, and certainly no work boots.
Shah Jahans final years were spent imprisoned in his rooms in the nearby fort, but from his window he could see the magnificent building he had created. Upon his death, his son buried him next to his wife.
There are stories of cruelty relating to the construction with artisans disabled and sometimes killed so that they could not produce anything similar elsewhere. How much truth there is in that is uncertain, as is the theory that he intended to build a second mausoleum in black marble facing the Taj Mahal on the other bank of the Yamuna River.
While Shah Jahan moved his capital to Delhi, and built many fine buildings there, it is the Taj Mahal which defines his legacy.
Such beauty and creation four centuries ago is quite remarkable built without the advantages of modern machinery and transportation techniques. The labour force was without the equipment, work boots or health of modern generations.
Millions of visitors from throughout the world visit the Taj Mahal every year. Its colour seems to change with the position of the sun, white in actual fact but appearing to be varyingly pink and yellow as the sun sets. There have been problems relating to the Taj because of pollution which began to gradually change the colour of the marble. The result has been an exclusion zones for fumes and industry that were thought to be the cause.
While there are many debates about the Taj Mahal, one thing is agreed by everyone who has seen it. It is a most magnificent building, and a fine legacy for true love.
It remains an absolute wonder, a mausoleum of such precision that if it was cut in half down the middle the two pieces would be identical save for one thing. When Shah Jahan died, his son Aurangzeb who had deposed and imprisoned him buried him next to his dead wife.
At that time Agra was Shah Jahans Capital. The site of the Taj was close to the River Yamuna, making the transportation of materials a little easier, though the bulk of the heavy work was done by as many as 1000 elephants. It was quite a task to get the heavy marble blocks to the site.
Materials came from all over India and beyond. Precious stones from far and wide were inlaid into the white marble.
The project was an enormous task and took many years to complete, using a total of twenty thousand workers, some skilled but the vast majority merely labourers without more than basic clothing, and certainly no work boots.
Shah Jahans final years were spent imprisoned in his rooms in the nearby fort, but from his window he could see the magnificent building he had created. Upon his death, his son buried him next to his wife.
There are stories of cruelty relating to the construction with artisans disabled and sometimes killed so that they could not produce anything similar elsewhere. How much truth there is in that is uncertain, as is the theory that he intended to build a second mausoleum in black marble facing the Taj Mahal on the other bank of the Yamuna River.
While Shah Jahan moved his capital to Delhi, and built many fine buildings there, it is the Taj Mahal which defines his legacy.
Such beauty and creation four centuries ago is quite remarkable built without the advantages of modern machinery and transportation techniques. The labour force was without the equipment, work boots or health of modern generations.
Millions of visitors from throughout the world visit the Taj Mahal every year. Its colour seems to change with the position of the sun, white in actual fact but appearing to be varyingly pink and yellow as the sun sets. There have been problems relating to the Taj because of pollution which began to gradually change the colour of the marble. The result has been an exclusion zones for fumes and industry that were thought to be the cause.
While there are many debates about the Taj Mahal, one thing is agreed by everyone who has seen it. It is a most magnificent building, and a fine legacy for true love.
