Saturday, August 27, 2016

The Taj Mahal

 Hi everyone! The reason I haven't really been posting is because I just came back from vacation! Sometimes I didn't really have an internet connection, but since I'm back, now I can blog about my vacation!
 So basically, I went to the Taj Mahal!
The Taj Mahal is something everyone has heard a little about, so my introduction will be pretty brief.
The Taj Mahal was constructed in 1648 under the emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb of marble (though not all is made of it) for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. He actually started a black Taj Mahal for himself, but he was imprisoned by his own son, who wanted the throne, and that was the end of that.
 Personally, I would not build my own tomb under any conditions. Just to put that out there.
 Anyways, we hired a guide to show us around, because we wanted to make sure we got the full history effect, and I was REALLY impressed. The architects and Shah Jahan thought of literally everything! Let me explain.

  1.  The Taj Mahal is symmetrical to the millimeter. Standing in a straight line on the middle of the lake, it looks exactly the same from the left to the right. That's really good for the technology they had back then!
  2. They installed a lightning conductor in case lightning struck it. Most monuments don't have one, especially one since the time it was built.
  3. After they buried the emperor and his wife, they made faux tombs directly above the real ones, so people wouldn't walk over the originals (to not act disrespectful).
  4. They planted cycas plants, the slowest growing plants in the world! According to an article by Lynn McKamey http://www.rhapisgardens.com/sagos/, "The fastest rate observed in South Texas...under 30% shade is three new sets of leaves and an increase of 1" (3 cm) of height and trunk diameter per year".  1 inch of growth per year for the fastest type means they are still around from 1648! 
I had a lot of fun at the Taj Mahal this summer! What about you guys? What did you do over the summer?

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