To most people, India is the land of the Taj Mahal, which was built by the fifth Mughal; Shahjahan in 1650, He loved his wife so much that she travelled with him everywhere and in one of the military campaigns; she died at an age of 39 while giving birth to their 14th child.
She asked him to show the world how much he loved her and so came the Taj Mahal (described by Noble Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore as a tear drop on the face of humanity).
It took 22 years with a work force of 20,000 and the money that was spent to build it would be worth 141 billion US$ today which probably makes it the most expensive piece of architecture in the world.
Very well written Manu.. I truely admire Taj Mahal for its unparalleled beauty - to me it is a beautiful dream in marble, which keeps a woman's memory green.
ReplyDeleteHowever I feel India, though aptly represented in the west as the land of the Taj, is lot more than just being the land of the Taj. It is also the birthplace of the many religions (both old and new) of the world - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and more recently Bahai. There are sooooo many beautiful heritage sites, each telling a story of how these religions came into being.
To any person, who would like to walk the path Buddha did, travel to India is a must.
http://www.incredibleindia.org for details