Visiting Intriguing India
India is a land filled with intriguing sights and sounds. When you invest in an India timeshare, you have the chance to really see the land and meet the people that live there. One of the most exotic sites in India that should not be missed is the Taj Mahal. Since its construction in the 17th century, this memorial has intrigued, inspired and mystified visitors of all ages and races.
The most enduring symbol of love, the Taj Mahal was built in the memory of Arjumand Bano Bagum, the beautiful young woman that captured the heart of Mughal Prince Khurram. She married Khurram at age 21 and stood by his side through war and peace, travelling with him even to the war camps of his time. Khurram became king in 1628 after a long and bloody battle, taking the name Shahjahan. Bagum became known as Mumtaz Mahal and through her short life she died at the age of 39 bore her husband fourteen children, seven of which survived.
Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth and it is said that Shahjahan was so inconsolable that he spent two years in morning without feasting, music or celebration of any type allowed at the royal court. A passionate builder, Shahjahan designed the marble Taj Mahal for his late wife, selecting a garden near the Yamuna River as the location of the memorial. The site was not near any other structure and it was viewable from Shahjahans personal palace in Agra Fort slightly upriver.
It took 20,000 laborers 17 years to build the mausoleum and Shahjahan employed the most skilled craftsman from all over India, Persia and Turkey. It was finally completed in 1650 and when Shahjahan passed away sixteen years later after being deposed by his own son, he was entombed in the Taj Mahal next to his beloved wife.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Taj Mahal is the way the marble shifts colors and moods with the time of day and seasons of the year. At dawn the marble is a shell pink that shifts to white at noon and then to pearl gray at dusk. During monsoon season, the marble takes on a blue color and the familiar shape drifts in and out of the mist like a mirage.
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