The world is at your fingertips thanks to today’s cheap flights. Delhi, India’s Capital Territory is home to Indira Gandhi International Airport. With over three and half million passengers passing through its doors it is the busiest airport in the country. It also handles domestic flights linking Delhi with the rest of the country. Foreign travellers who are interested in visiting the Taj Mahal, for example, may consider using the online booking site, findmyfare, to fly into Delhi and then onwards to Agra.
The name Taj Mahal means ‘Crown Palace’. It is the largest mausoleum in the world. It is also one of the Seven Wonders of the World, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most famous buildings of the present day. It stands in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh, on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a sweeping Mughal garden of close to seventeen hectares.
The Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan commissioned the Taj Mahal as a symbol of his eternal love for his favourite wife, the Persian princess, Arjumand Banu Begum. Her title Mumtaz Mahal meant ‘Jewel of the Palace’. She died in 1631, due to complications experienced during the birth of her fourteenth child. Work on the immense project began in 1632. The giant structure of ivory-white marble contains a mosque, a guest house and the main gateway. The surrounding rectangular courtyard and its cloisters were added a few years later and construction came to an end in 1653. Ustad-Ahmad Lahori is credited with the design of the Taj Mahal. An army that consisted of masons, stone-cutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other craftsman was enlisted for the architectural feat. The workforce was made up of twenty two thousand labourers hailing from India, Central Asia and Iran, as well as one thousand elephants.
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.
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