History
THE CONSTRUCTION
The Taj Mahal ("crown palace") is believed to be an abbreviated version of the name Mumtaz, it is also simply called rauza (tomb and mosque complex).
Over 1,000 elephants and buffaloes were used during the construction for the transportation of raw materials. In all 28 different types of precious and semi-precious stones, were embedded in white marble. The only local material used was the red sandstone which decorates the various structures of the complex. For the construction works, instead of using bamboo to make the scaffolding, were used bricks.
At the end of the works the huge scaffolding had to be dismantled, and for some this operation would have taken about five years. To solve this problem, the emperor established that anyone could take the bricks from the scaffolding for themselves: according to tradition, the whole scaffolding was dismantled overnight. The construction work was financed thanks to the proceeds from the sale of the saltpeter, a component for the manufacture of gunpowder.
decoration with precious stones set in the marble
abandonment
Immediately after the construction of the Taj Mahal was over, the capital of the Mughal empire was moved from Agra to Delhi, significantly decreasing the importance of this city and the attention of the authorities on it.
Due to a lack of interest that lasted several centuries, at the end of the nineteenth century, thanks to erosion and the thieves who robbed graves, the structure was in a serious state of abandonment. Furthermore, during the British governorate of Lord William Bentinck, there would have been a plan to demolish the Taj Mahal in order to recover the marble it is covered with and the land to be used for cultivation.
Restoration
This period of abandonment and disinterest ended with the appointment of India as viceroy of the Englishman Lord George Nathaniel Curzon in 1899, who began a restoration of the entire structure which ended in 1908.
During the twentieth century the building was well cared for: in 1942, during the Second World War, the Indian government erected a scaffolding around the structure to defend it from any damage caused by air attacks by the Germans first and then by the Japanese.
In recent years, however, the Taj Mahal has faced a much more subtle enemy: pollution. In fact, due to the fine dust, the white marble with which it is covered is turning yellow. In order to solve this problem, in addition to the normal cleaning operations regularly commissioned by the Indian government, an operation to treat the marble with clay at a cost of over $ 200,000 should be made, which should require two or three months and be repeated every three years. To avoid such a costly intervention, local authorities have implemented preventive measures: a law, in fact, prohibits the construction of polluting industries in the area around the Taj Mahal.