Monthly Archives: April 2013

After 17 years of hard labor by more than 20,000 craftsmen and laborers, the mausoleum was completed in 1648. Mirrored by a crystal clear manmade pond in front and the slate blue Yamuna River behind, the near perfect monument was named the Taj Mahal.
Legend has it that the king cut the thumbs off of the workers so they could not go on to create another Taj, but many say that is just a myth. We went to a marble handicraft store to see how the designs were made- it is painstaking work. The attention to detail was unreal.
The man showing us how things are made said that his family has been in the marble business for over 15 generations. He also said that you have no choice but to make that your profession if you are born into it- otherwise some of the techniques might die.

When she got down, she said, “at least I did it!!!” That’s my girl!

The jantar mantar is Delhi. It consists of 13 architectural astronomy exhibits. Maharaja Jai Singh II was given the task of revising the calendar and astronomical tables.
The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets. Some of these purposes nowadays would be classified as astronomy.