What can I say...I visited this magnificent building on two occasions during my 4 week visit in India and the second time was even better. It's called "The Monument of Love' for a reason. It was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1632 to house the tomb of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal who had died. The construction employed around 20,000 Artisans to do the precious stone inlays, paintings and carvings.

It was completed in 1653 at a cost of 32 million Indian Rupees......

Want to know what that equates to today? I'm told it's a whopping $1.1 Billion AUD, but I 'm happy to be corrected. If anyone can set me straight please do. I'd love to know!

The Taj Mahal has been constructed from Marble that has been either inlaid with precious stones, carved or painted and is an amazing engineering feat. One example is the construction of the 4 columns on each corner. These are each set at a slight angle away from the main building and was done to ensure, if an earthquake occurred, the columns would fall away from the Taj Mahal.

The lattice work you see here is one piece of marble that has been carved. We saw a lot of this work in most of the Forts and Palaces in either marble or stone. It's purpose was often as a screen for the women (who were not permitted to attend) to stand behind so they could watch the proceedings of festivals and gatherings in the courtyards, but not be seen from the courtyard. 

Many precious stones, semi precious stones and common stones were used for inlay work . Semi precious stones such as Orange-red Carnelian, Jasper, Grass-green Chrysolite, Heliotrope (deep blue or green) were used in this section.

What you see outside is only a fraction of the incredible artworks you see. No photographs are permitted inside. This photo shows the scale of the building. You'll see a close up of the Koran further down.

He! He!...Shoes can be worn inside the temple, but disposable socks are compulsory and are fitted over the shoes. Very fashionable...NOT!

Another close up of the delicate, intricate carving of the marble

This is a close up of the calligraphy script from 26 chapters of the Koran that's been inlaid with the precious stone, Onyx.

After visiting the Taj Mahal we were taken to a marble factory and given a demonstration on the process. Artisans still use the same process today that was used in the construction of the Taj Mahal in 1632

This is a small marble elephant I purchased and had sent home....he might have been small but he was too heavy for my luggage. He is inlaid with Orange red Carnelian and hopefully will bring prosperity to me!!!

If you're interested to read more about this I've found a great site that goes into much more detail.

http://www.core77.com/posts/25995/Ancient-Crafts-The-Stone-Inlays-of-the-Taj-Mahal

Next instalment will be looking at some of the other fascinating temples we visited in the Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan regions. To make sure you are notified of the post immediately subscribe NOW.

And I would love to hear peoples comments.