(MENAFN- The Peninsula) US President Barack Obama is expected to tour the Taj Mahal as part of his three-day visit to India to strengthen ties. Here are some facts about the 17th-century monument to love.
LOVE: The Taj was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth in 1631.
NUMBERS: Some 20,000 labourers, sculptors, calligraphers and stone cutters, along with 1,000 elephants, took 16 years to construct the monument.
VISITORS: The Taj has drawn a string of world leaders and royalty including then Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf and US president Bill Clinton, while Diana, the late British princess, was famously photographed alone on a marble seat there in 1992.
ISLAM: The intricate carvings on the white marble walls of the Taj are calligraphic engravings of verses of the Koran, the Muslim holy book. It also has four minarets and a mosque.
JEWELS: The monument is inlaid with precious stones including turquoise from Tibet, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and sapphires from Sri Lanka. The gateway is lined with copper and decorated with 1,000 silver coins.
COW DUNG: In 1996 the Supreme Court ordered a ban on industries using coal within a 10,400 square kilometre (4,015 square mile) area of the Taj to protect it from pollution. This year, authorities banned the burning of cow dung near the Taj on fears of turning the monument yellow.
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