Taj Mahal

This is my 8th speech at the British Toastmasters Club:

Do you still remember when we're in elementary school, and our teachers taught us about the 7 wonders of the world? Currently 7 wonders of the world are symbols of 7 human virtues that were voted by people around the world. They include the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, the statue of Christ Redeemer, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, the Great Wall of China, and Petra. This evening I'd like to share with you a little bit of the Taj Mahal, the symbol of passion and love, without which our lives, relationships, and achievements have no meaning.

Taj Mahal, located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India is the pinnacle of Mughal architecture. Mughal emperors were descendants of Timurids, that is Muslim Persians, that ruled Indian subcontinent from 16th-mid 19th century. It was built by emperor Shah Jahan, the grandson of Akbar the great in the memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died after gftergiving birth to her 14th child. In her dying breath, she urged Shah Jehan to build a mausoleum that is more beautiful than any the world had seen before.

The focal point of Taj Mahal is the tomb, a large symmetrical building that stands on a square plinth with an arch-shaped doorway and topped by a large dome and finial. Unlike most Mughal buildings that were made of red sandstone, Shah Jahan used a revolutionary white marble. The base is a multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners, forming an octagon. On each side, a massive archway frames the iwan with arched balconies stacked on either side. The main chamber houses the false sarcopahagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan. The actual graves are located at a lower level. The dome is called amrud (guava dome or onion dome) with almost the same height with the base. The finial is placed to add height and has a shape of lotus and crescent moon that reflects the influence of Muslim and Hindu. The minarets were added for symmetry. The white marble walls and tomb were all adorned with precious and semi-precious gemstones, placed using intricate pietra dura technique. It is an incredible technique of creating a painting using very small highly polished stones. Inside, lapidary or shaped gemstones also decorate the interior.

Other than the tomb, Taj Mahal complex also holds a grand red sandstone building which is the mosque. On the eastern side, another building, created as the mirror of the mosque, is the jawab, an architectural balance that also served as a guest house.

The complex is set around a 100 thousand square mt of Mughal garden that symbolizes the paradise in Islam, where 4 rivers flowing from a central spring or mountain, separating the garden into north, west, south, and east. Amazingly, even though the tomb is not located at the center of the garden, it is actually put at the center if we include the Yamuna river as part of the architecture.

Soon after Shah Jahan finished building the Taj for 22 years, he was overthrown by his 3rd son and was put in house arrest at the nearby Agra Fort. Through the fort, the view of Taj Mahal was his only consolation. Now, a 10,400 square kms of Taj Trapezium Zone was set by the govt of India where strict emission standards are applied to reduce the impact of pollution and acid rain on the white marbles. This monument of eternal love and passion is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.