A LOVE STORY
- Jun 17
- 1 min read
Today June 17 is the anniversary of the event that caused the creation of the Taj Mahal.
On June 17, 1631, Empress Mumtaz Mahal died from complications while giving birth to her 14th child (a daughter named Gauhar Ara Begum) in Burhanpur.
Her husband, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, was so completely shattered by her death that court chroniclers noted his hair turned white from grief within months. To channel his sorrow and honour a deathbed promise to build her a monument of unmatched beauty, he commissioned the construction of the Taj Mahal the very next year.
As the poet Rabindranath Tagore famously described it, the monument became "a teardrop on the cheek of Time"—all stemming from the tragedy that happened on this day nearly four centuries ago.
Built between 1631 and 1648 the Taj Mahal is not only one of the world's most famous mausoleums but also one of the grandest symbols of love and devotion.Ustad-Ahmad Lahori was appointed the main architect and 20,000 artisans were brought froml across the empire to build it. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 and is regarded today as one of the finest achievements of Indo-Islamic architecture.
Comments