b'1.5 million people and home to the Taj nal resting place for himself. In contrast Mahal. to the white marble of the Taj Mahal, his Taking it one step further, all gasoline- tombwouldbemadeofblackmarble, powered vehicles must stay outside of theimported from northern India.1 km radius of the monument. Amusingly,Work began, but the Emperors eldest my hotel was about 600m away, and anson became weary of the constant ex-electricgolfcarttransportedmetothepense. Not being able to alter his fathers JONATHAN VAN BILSEN ancient site. ambition, he decided to have the Emper-The Taj was built by Emperor Shah Ja- or arrested and imprisoned in the nearby Asmanyofyoumayknow,anewhan in 1633 and is thenest example ofRed Fort. Ironically, the Emperor had a list of the Seven Wonders of the World,Muslim architecture in the world. Ironicallyperfect view of the Taj Mahal, but never as voted on by millions of the planetsit is in a country where 75% of the peopleset foot within its walls, even though his inhabitants,has beenpublished.are Hindu. I had always been under thewife was buried there. He died after eightnally An original 200 nominations in 1999 wereimpressiontheTajwasaTemple,andyears of imprisonment.narrowed down to 77 and eventually to 21. was astounded to learn it is a tomb builtThe craftsmanship of the monument I was excited by thenal list, as I havefor the Emperors wife. is breathtaking. It becomes inconceivable had the pleasure of visiting all seven ofGriefstrickenuponherprematureto understand how artists inlaid tens of the sites. Last months article on Petra, indeath with the birth of their 14th child,thousands of precious stones to formo-Jordan, was therst and this month, I willthe Emperor immediately commissionedral designs. The marble is as white today concentrate on Indias famed Taj Mahal. work on the elaborate tomb in her honour.as it was the day it was laid.I enjoyed my visit to India immensely,22,000 Craftsmen laboured for 17 yearsAgra is a one-hourfrom Delhi,ight and when in Agra spent a great deal ofto complete what has been deemed thebut the train experience makes the trip a time at the Taj Mahal, an amazing archi- mostawless architectural creation in thetrue adventure. Admission to the Taj is $6, tecturalaccomplishment.Soimportantworld. Thecostbecamesoprohibitive,unless you are a resident, in which case it is the Taj to Indias growing tourist trade,that it nearly bankrupted the royal coffers. isfty cents. Signs forbidding spitting are the government has forbidden any indus- Prior to its completion, the Emperor try within the con nes of Agra, the city ofdecided to build a second monument as aPlease turn to page 40FOCUS - FEBRUARY 202039'