BRICK STRUCTURE
Despite its appearance, the Taj Mahal isn’t made of marble, it’s just covered with it. Indeed the walls were red bricks, made on the spot.
SOLID FOUNDATION
Built on the banks of the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges, this monument requires a stable foundation to support its weight of up to 25,000 tonnes. The builders then drilled dozens of wells in the sandy soil to reach a layer of dense limestone 17 meters deep. They then poured the pillars there based on a mortar that was as solid as concrete. The tomb could thus rest on stable ground and withstand earthquakes and floods.
BEAUTY MASK
To preserve this dazzling white color threatened by pollution, the site’s preservers used a clay-based treatment, which absorbs impurities without harming the stone. The Taj Mahal is covered with it, then it is washed.
WALL JEWELRY
The floral motifs that adorn the walls of the Taj Mahal are inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones, taken from all over the world, in particular emeralds from faraway America!
HEAVEN ON WORLD
If the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan started construction of this mausoleum in 1631, it was finished in 1653, not only in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Tahal! No offense to romanticism, this Muslim ruler was also driven by political will to assert his rule, by building a perfect replica of a celestial paradise on Earth.
Hacène Chouchaoui
