Huge Marble Mausoleum

Like most mughal tombs the basic elements are persian in origin.

Huge marble mausoleum.

About a year after the mausoleum was built construction started on the grand home across the street which was called laurel hall. The taj is one of the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tombs in the world one of the masterpieces of mughal architecture and one of the great wonders of india. Resting in the middle of a wide plinth 23 feet 7 metres high the mausoleum proper is of white marble that reflects hues according to the intensity of sunlight or moonlight. The mausoleum took a year to create and is made of 750 tons of granite and 50 tons of marble.

Before you on the north side is a huge marble cenotaph cut from a single block of stone. It took 100 men to construct and cost a whopping 75 000 which was a fortune back in 1880. The palace is built of white local limestone and marble of high quality most of which was from the brač marble quarries on the island of brač of tuff taken from the nearby river beds and of brick made in salonitan and other factories. The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the taj mahal.

The taj mahal in agra is an immense mausoleum of white marble built between 1632 and 1653 by order of the mughal emperor shah jahan in memory of his favorite wife. Hittite hellenic roman seljuk ottoman. Atatürk s actual tomb is beneath it. This section was covered with bas reliefs showing action scenes including the battle of the centaurs with the lapiths and greeks in combat with the amazons a race of warrior women.

It has four nearly identical facades each with a wide central arch rising to 108 feet 33 metres at its apex and chamfered slanted corners incorporating smaller arches. It is a large white marble structure standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan an arch shaped doorway topped by a large dome and finial.