In the large city of Agra, with a population of around 1.5 million, is the Taj Mahal. A long labor of love undertaken by Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth at the age of 39, the Taj Mahal is actually a beautiful mausoleum. Watercourses within the complex divide the gardens into quadrants, which is symbolic in three ways: as a symbol of paradise, an oasis from the desert heat, and a summation of the royal pleasure garden. Symbolically, the watercourse is representative of the life source and the meeting of man and God. The Taj Mahal is easily reached via express bus service from Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Gwalior and Jhansi. It is also easily reachable via air travel from Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport.
Taj Mahal
Purani Mandi
Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Located in Delhi, construction on the world famous Qutub Minar was started in 1192 by Qutub-ud-din Aibak, the first Sultan of Delhi and founder of the Slave Dynasty. There are many theories, among those living within Delhi, as to the origin of this tower. Some believe it to have been an ancient observatory, while others believe it to have been built by Prithvi Chauhan, a king from the Hindu Kshatirya Chauhan dynasty, for his daughter. However, the tower's design and architecture are distinctly Islamic in nature, and so the other theories are just the imagination of those living within Delhi. It has been suggested that Qutub-ud-din-Aibak lived only long enough to see the first story completed and that Altamash, his successor, actually completed the tower, which today is the world's tallest freestanding minaret at 234 feet.
Qutub Minar
Mehrauli
New Delhi, India
Situated in Delhi, the Red Fort was built during the reign of Shah Jahan and was completed in nine years at the cost of approximately 10 million rupees, or roughly $218,000 USD. Like most Islamic buildings in India, the Red Fort is octagonal in shape, and it is connected on the north side to the smaller Salimgarh Fort. Red Fort measures approximately 2,953 feet by 1,804 feet, and rises to a height of 109.9 feet. Outside of the fort, the original moat, which was at one time connected to the Yamuna River, can be seen. There are two entry points to the fort, Lahori Gate and Hathipol or elephant gate, where the king and his visitors would dismount from the elephants. Each year, to celebrate India's independence from Great Britain, the Prime Minister raises the National Flag of India at the Red Fort on Aug. 15th.
Red Fort
Mahatma Gandhi Marg
New Delhi, India
Jag Niwas served as the pleasure palace of the Sisodia rulers for more than a century. Prior to 1734, the palace pavilions were constructed. After his coronation in 1734, Gadi Rana Jagat Singh II expanded the water palace and named it after himself. Built in a perfect circle, the upper room of the palace is about 21 feet in diameter, with floors inlaid with black and white marble. The walls are decorated with arabesques of colored stones in the same style as the Taj Mahal. Other notable objects of interest are Shah Jahan's throne, which was sculptured from a single block of serpentine and a room built with 12 hue slabs of marble. Bhagwat Singh, who ascended the throne in 1955, began preparing himself for the future of his dynasty and converted the palace to a hotel that today is run by the Taj Group of Hotels, which has turned the water palace into one of the more popular Indian tourist sites.
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