The Taj Mahal, Amongst the New 7 Wonders Foundation List

Today I was rereading an article about the New 7 Wonders of the World Foundation list.

It is Basically about the initiative started in 2000 as a Millennium project to choose Wonders of The World from a selection of 200 existing monuments.

And the Taj Mahal is amongst the Final 7 Chosen from the list of 200...

I've been wanting to write about The Taj Mahal, ever since the last time I visited on the 15 august 2016.
My uncle from Canada was out on a one month World Tour with his 13 year old grandson (it was their first vacation together). The sole purpose for his visit to India was to acquaint Jacob to the different cultures, diversities, lifestyle, historical monuments, especially "The Taj Mahal" one out of the 7 Wonders of The World. Aunt Rosy had specially asked me to take a picture of Jacob in front of The Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal, more often, Persian for Crown of Palaces is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658), to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 42-acre complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (US$827 million). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". Described by Nobel laureate 

Rabindranath Tagore as "the tear-drop on the cheek of time", it is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts 7–8 million visitors a year. In 2007, it was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World (2000–2007) initiative.

I have visited "The Taj Mahal" before but however i still can't get enough of the architectural beauty of The Taj Mahal. It's awe-inspiring and i can ponder over it for hours, giving my imagination a flight, I mean how did they create something so magnificent and detailed when they had no equipment nor technology at that time? From the time you enter, you get summoned to the Royalty and art of the mausoleum.  

The silence and majestic beauty of the mausoleum reflects the nobility and intensity of Shah Jahan's affection for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal 👑. No other historical monument in the world can surpass the Taj in splendour. Never before or since has such extravagant memorial been built by any Man/Woman.

 People from all around the World visit India just to get a glimpse of the mesmerising artistic architectural beauty "The Taj Mahal". Hence i would like to reach out to the ones who live in India especially Delhi, who take this beauty for granted and think "What's the catch it's just another Historical Monument", I suggest you revisit the idea as you too would be awe-struck by this beauty....
Incredible India🇮🇳

P.S: It's closed on Friday.

         Agra is 204 kms from Delhi, 235 kms from Jaipur, 125 kms from Gwalior.

         The most popular modem of reaching Agra from Delhi is by train, it's 2-3 hrs 

          If you go by road it will take you 4-5 hrs.