So synonymous is Agra with the Taj Mahal, that one tends to forget which is what. There is something about this famed memento of love - the Taj Mahal - that an Emperor constructed to internalize the memory of his dead wife and got the hands of the artisans lopped off so that it cannot be imitated. There truly is no second Taj and a look at the white-marbled monument leaves one with an impression that it is too pretty to be a funeral shrine, and one tends to give in to the argument that it is actually a proud display of grandeur of an equally proud emperor who wanted to get his name embossed in the pages of history. Whatever be its genesis, Agra is beelined by blue-chip couples and honeymooners worldwide, for their postcard snapshot with the Taj behind them.
CHARMINAR
It was built in 1591 AD in the heart of the old city of Hyderabad by Muhammad Quli Qutab Shah to commemorate the eradication of plague just after he shifted his capital from Golkunda to Hyderabad. The monument is a square structure with four towers in each of the four corners, each of whose sides is 20 meters in length.
LOTUS TEMPLE
This mesmerizing structure, in the shape of a half-open lotus, is situated in the south of Delhi. The temple, made of marble, cement, dolomite and sand, is often called the Taj of modern India. It is open to all faiths and is an ideal place for meditation and obtaining peace and tranquility. Completed in the year 1986, this architectural fete is the Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba's creation for the Bahai faith - the youngest of the world's independent religions. It is open to all faiths and is an ideal place for meditation and obtaining peace and tranquility.
Qutub Minar
Qutub Minar, the 239ft sandstone tower situated 15 km south of Connaught Place, Delhi, is distinguished as the tallest stone tower in India. A marvel of the Indo-Islamic style of architecture, construction of the tower was started by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak in AD 1199 and completed by Iltutmish in the year 1230. It was erected as a victory tower proclaiming the triumph of Islam over the last Hindu Kingdom of Delhi. The complex houses a number of other important monuments- the gateway built in 1310, the Alai Darwaza, Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque; one of the oldest existing mosques in India, the tombs of Altamish, Alauddin Khalji and Imam Zamin. An awesome structure in the Qutub Minar complex is the 2000 year old 7m high Iron Pillar- the Alai Minar. It has not rusted ever since it was built.
