PROJECT

MANAGEMENT
- BY PROF. DEEPAK GUPTA

- ABDUL GHANI
S.Y.B.B.A

As A
Project

SOME BASIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT TAJ

MAHAL
TheTaj Mahal meaning Crown of Palaces is
a white marblemausoleumlocated at the banks
of Yamuna River inAgra,Uttar Pradesh,India. It
was built byMughalemperor Shah Jahanin
memory of his third wife,Mumtaz Mahal
(Arjumand Banu). The Taj Mahal is widely
recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India
and one of the universally admired masterpieces
of the world's heritage".
Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest
example ofMughal architecture, a style that
combines elements
fromIslamic,Persian,Ottoman, Turkish and
Indian architectural styles.

ORIGIN OF TAJ MAHAL

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during theMughal
empire's period of greatest prosperity, was griefstricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal,
aPersianprincess, died during the birth of their 14th
child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal
began in 1632.The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's
grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an
inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum
was completed in 1648 (17yrs.) and the surrounding
buildings and garden were finished 5 years later.
Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in
these words:
Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.

CONSTRUCTION & INTERMENT

A site was chosen on the banks of the
Yamuna River on the southern edgeof
Agra and purchased from Raja Jai
Singhin exchange for four
mansions in the city. The site,
"from the point
of view of
loftiness and pleasantness
appeared to be worthy of the burial of that one
who dwells in paradise".
In January 1632 AD, Mumtaz's body
was moved with great ceremony from Burhanpur to
Agra.

Foundations
The foundations represented the biggest technical
challenge to be overcome by the Mughal builders.
In order to support the considerable load resulting
from the mausoleum, the sands of the riverbank
needed to be stabilised. To this end, wells were
sunk and then cased in timber and finally filled with
rubble, iron and mortar essentially acting
asaugured piles.

Materials
The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from
all over India andAsia. The buildings are
constructed with walls of brick and rubble. Some of
the walls of the mausoleum are several metres
thick.Tthe sandstone was quarried 28 miles
(45km) away nearFatehpur Sikri.

ARCHITECTS & CRAFTSMEN

The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted
to a board of architects under imperial
supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur
Khan, Makramat Khan, andUstad Ahmad
Lahauri. Lahauriis generally considered to be the
principal designer.
A labour force of twenty thousand workers was
recruited across northern India. Sculptors
fromBukhara,
calligraphers fromSyria and Persia, inlayers
from
southern India, stonecutters
fromBaluchistan,
Ustad
Ahmad
a specialist in building turrets, another
who
carved

Some of the builders involved in construction of

Taj Mahal are:
Ismail Afandi (a.k.a. Ismail Khan) of the
Ottoman EmpireDesigner of the main
Dome.
Ustad Isa, born either inShiraz,Ottoman
Empireor Agra credited with a key role in the
architectural design and main dome.
'Puru' from Benarus, Persia has been
mentioned as a Supervising Architect.
Qazim Khan, a native ofLahore cast the solid
Gold Finial.
Chiranjilal, a lapidary from Delhi the Chief
Sculptor andMosaicist.

COMPONENTS OF THE COMPLEX

The focus and climax of the Taj
Mahal complex is the symmetrical
white marble tomb; a cubic
building with chamfered corners,
with arched recesses known
aspishtaqs. It is topped by a
large dome and several pillared,
roofed chhatris. In plan, it has a near
perfect symmetry about 4 axes. It comprises 4
floors; the lower basement storey containing the
tombs of Jahan and Mumtaz, the entrance storey
containing identical cenotaphs of the tombs below
in a much more elaborate chamber, an ambulatory
storey and a roof terrace.

DARK HISTORY OF TAJ MAHAL

Abdul Hamid Lahauri, the author of
theBadshahnama, the official history of Shah
Jahan's reign, states Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah
Jahan was deposed by his sonAurangzeband
put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort.
Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in
the mausoleum next to his wife.
By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had
fallen badly into disrepair. During the time of
theIndian rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was
defaced by British soldiers and government
officials, who chiselled out precious stones

UNUSUAL FACTS ABOUT TAJ MAHAL

The full height of the Taj Mahal is171 metres
(561 feet).
The Taj Mahal covers an area of 42 acres in
total.
The cost of construction of the Taj Mahal was
around Rs. 320 million.
Around 22,000 people worked day and night
for 22 years to complete construction of the
Taj Mahal.
Taj Mahal appears pink in the morning, white in
the day and changes its color to golden in the
moon light, it is the symbol of true love.
The pillars surrounding Taj Mahal are slightly
tilted outwards so that in the event of an

STEPS TAKEN BY GOVT. TO PRESERVE

TAJ MAHAL
The government and city authorities have taken
measures to protect Indias greatest sight.
Pollution stations around Agra monitor air
quality around the clock.
Car traffic has been banned within 2
kilometers of the monument.
Electric and battery driven cars and buses
take tourists to the site.
A natural gas pipeline is also in discussion.
Factories and industries around Agra are to be
persuaded to change to cleaner forms of
energy.

REPLICAS

TAJ MAHAL-

TRIPOLI SHRINE TEMPLE-