The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal

Here is a beautiful picture of the Taj Mahal, the most famous mausoleum in the world built by the "Emperor Shah Jahan" to keep alive forever the memory of his beloved queen, "Mumtaz Begum"

The Emperor and his queen lie buried side by side in a vault beneath the taj mahal to which we descend by the flight of steps. Their remains are covered two slabs of marble; and directly over the slabs, upon the floor above, in the great centre room under the dome,stand two other slabs of the same marble,exquisitely worked in mosaic. Upon that of queen amid wreathes of flowers, are worked in black letters passages from the Karan. On the slab over her husband with his name and the date of his death.

The Slab over the Queen occupies the centre of the apartments above and in the vault below, and that over her husband lies on the in wrought, "Mumtaz-i-Mahal Banu Begum," the ornament of the palace Banu Begum and the date of her death, 1631.

The taj mahal stands upon the north side of a large quadrangle looking down into the clear blue stream of the river Jumna, while the other three sides are enclosed with a high wall of red sandstone.
The entrance of this quadrangle is through a magnificent gateway in the south side opposite the tomb; and on the other two sides are very beautiful of mosques facing inwards, and  corresponding exactly with each other in size, design, and execution.