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<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><strong>8 Secrets of the Taj Mahal<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">This world-wonder memorial\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/travel\/eight-secrets-taj-mahal-180962168\/\"><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\">remains a place of mystery<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stockcake.com\/i\/taj-mahal-night_1284436_506737?signup=true\"><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\">The mausoleum in Agra<\/span><\/a> is India\u2019s most famous monument, and a sublime shrine to eternal love. Built from between 1632 and 1647 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the Taj Mahal was dedicated to Jahan\u2019s favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during childbirth. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">But despite its iconic stature, much of its history is still shrouded in mystery. Here are a few things about the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Taj_Mahal\"><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\">marble-clad marvel<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The most famous myth is probably false<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><br \/>\nAccording to a popular legend, Shah Jahan wanted desperately for the mausoleum to be an exquisite masterpiece without an equal. To ensure no one could recreate the Taj Mahal\u2019s beauty, Shah Jahan supposedly severed the hands and gouged the eyes of the artisans and craftsmen. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Despite the prevalence of this gruesome tale, historians have found no evidence to support the story\u2014though it does heighten the drama of the romantic tragedy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Optical illusions can be spotted everywhere<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><br \/>\nThe architects and craftsmen of the Taj Mahal were masters of proportions and tricks of the eye. When you first approach the main gate that frames the Taj, for example, the monument appears incredibly close and large. But as you get closer, it shrinks in size\u2014exactly the opposite of what you\u2019d expect.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Although the minarets surrounding the tomb look perfectly upright, the towers actually lean outward, which serves both form and function: in addition to providing aesthetic balance, the pillars would crumble away from the main crypt in a disaster like an earthquake.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/userfiles\/image\/2024-pics\/Taj-Mahal-fl-mn.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"277\" height=\"185\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Both of the cenotaphs are empty<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><br \/>\nInside the Taj Mahal, the cenotaphs honoring Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan are enclosed in an eight-sided chamber ornamented with pietra dura (an inlay with semi-precious stones) and a marble lattice screen. But the gorgeous monuments are just for show: The real sarcophagi are in a quiet room below, at garden level.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The Taj gets regular facials<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><br \/>\nAge and pollution has taken a toll on the Taj Mahal\u2019s gleaming white marble fa\u00e7ade, which has turned brownish-yellow under the sooty conditions. Occasionally, the monument is given a spa day. Specifically, a mudpack facial called “multiani mitti”. This traditional recipe used by Indian women to restore radiance is applied, and then washed off with brushes, after which the Taj\u2019s blemishes vanish, and its glow returns.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">It changes color throughout the day.<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><br \/>\nOne of the allures of the Taj Mahal is its changing hue. From dawn to dusk, the sun transforms the mausoleum. It may seem pearly gray and pale pink at sunrise, dazzling white at high noon, and an orange-bronze when the sun sets. In the evenings, the Taj can appear translucent blue.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/userfiles\/image\/2024-pics\/Taj__Mahal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"333\" height=\"187\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">It was as much of a symbol of power as it was of love.<\/span><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Accounts have shown that, as a leader, Shah Jahan was more ruthless than romantic. For all its associations to devotion and ardor, the Taj was also a source of propaganda.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The overall ordered symmetry symbolizes absolute power: the perfection of Mughal leadership. Its extravagance (crystal, lapis lazuli, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Makrana_marble\"><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\">makrana marble<\/span><\/a>, turquoise) and grand scale (both river banks) only brought glory to Shah Jahan\u2019s reign.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">It\u2019s (almost) perfectly symmetrical<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><br \/>\nThe Taj Mahal is the pinnacle of Mughal architecture, constructed with impeccable symmetry according to the period\u2019s style. Minarets flank the domed tomb, and a central pool reflects the main building. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The gardens\u2014an earthly representation of paradise\u2014are divided into quadrants, and twin red sandstone buildings (an east-facing mosque and a west-facing guesthouse) give the whole complex a balanced harmony:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/userfiles\/image\/2024-pics\/pi-lach.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"43\" height=\"38\" \/>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/userfiles\/image\/2024-pics\/Lwr-phi%20(2).png\" alt=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"36\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">There is, however, one exception. Shah Jahan\u2019s cenotaph is peculiarly positioned west of the central axis, throwing off the equilibrium. The odd placement has led many to believe he never meant to be buried there at all.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">A 2nd, black-marble Taj Mahal was planned<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"6px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><br \/>\nLocal lore has it that Shah Jahan intended to construct an identical but shadow image of the Taj Mahal hewn from black marble, across the Yamuna River, where he would be entombed. Its construction may have come to a halt after Shah Jahan was deposed by one of their 14 children, and imprisoned at the nearby Agra Fort:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/userfiles\/image\/2024-pics\/Taj_Mahal_ctrd.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"122\" height=\"465\" \/>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/userfiles\/image\/2024-pics\/Yamal-rvr-Taj-Mahal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"122\" height=\"340\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"?p=3032\"><span style=\"color: #ffd700;\"><strong><span style=\"2px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">read more …<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>8 Secrets of the Taj Mahal This world-wonder memorial\u00a0remains a place of mystery The mausoleum in Agra is India\u2019s most famous monument, and a sublime shrine to eternal love. Built from between 1632 and 1647 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the Taj Mahal was dedicated to Jahan\u2019s favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3041"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3973,"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3041\/revisions\/3973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutyou.name\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}