The story of Taj Mahal represents the passion of love. This brilliant creation of world is based behind a true love story which began when the prince of Agra (son of Mughal emperor Jahangir and grand son of great Mughal ruler Akbar) Khurrum saw a girl named Arjmand Banu Begam while walking through the bazaar of Agra. The girl was remarkably beautiful. It was a love at first sight for both of them. Both fell in love for each other at first sight when they were both 15 in 1607. Ever since that time, it had been Khurrum’s dream to marry Arjmand Banu Begam. Both get married but before his aspiration came true, he had to marry a Persian princess first for political motives. His beloved, therefore, had to settle for the strange role of second wife in his harem.
But in Khurrum’s heart, however, Arjmand Banu Begam was always first. Even before Prince Khurrum became King Shah Jahan, he had changed her name from Arjmand Banu Begam to Mumtaz Mahal, which intended “the most attractive crown of the palace.” Asper an anecdote- when Shah Jahan was engaged in a war, he missed Mumtaz so much that he wrote a poem to her :- “When my mind and body desired for you, my spirit burned to death, your love reaching from a far Breathed life into my dead remains.” Both were more and more attached with each other for marriage. War had been the only reason of his departure from her. But afterward, even war could not disconnect their heartbeat anymore. She began to go to the battleground with him, even when she was pregnant. She gave birth to 14 children in 19 years of marriage. While giving birth to their last child, Mumtaz Mahal died due to some difficulties. However, the 14th childbirth took her life. She died at Burhanpur, faraway from Agra. Her dead body was brought to Agra after a great effort where it is buried at the current location of Taj Mahal.
While Mumtaz Mahal lay dying, she asked four swears from the Shah Jahan: first, that he build the Taj; second, that he should marry again; third, that he be kind to their children; and fourth, that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary. Shah Jahan kept the first promises very seriously. Construction for Taj began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty thousand people were arranged to work on it. The master architect was the Iranian architect Istad Usa; it is possible that the pietra dura work was carried by an Italian artist.
Even after the seven days and seven nights after her death, the King didn’t eat. On the eighth day, he lastly walked out of his chamber. The guards and servants were all stunned to see that his hair had turned from black to gray. He put on white grief clothes and ordered the structure of a most beautiful monument. The preferred material was pure white marble, representing his unblemished memory of her.
It was the year 1648 when ultimately the miraculous construction of the mausoleum completed after 17 years of labor by more than 20,000 craftsmen and laborers. Mirrored by a crystal clear artificial pond in front and the slate blue Yamuna River behind, the unrivaled monument was named the Taj Mahal.
During the last time of Shah Jahan in 1666, when he was on his deathbed, his last wish was to be kept at window facing the Taj Mahal, to murmur again the name of his lifelong love. Hundreds of years have passed, but the Taj Mahal still showcases the pure example of perpetual love as the eternal flow of the Yamuna River is continue near the Taj.
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