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Love in marble

Written by DeadGirl
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
What can be said about the Taj Mahal that hasn't already been said? Ever since it was unveiled to the world, almost four centuries ago, praise for the marbled wonder has never ceased. Shah Jahan, himself, in his Badshahnama, wrote that the sight of its beauty 'creates sorrowing sighs and makes the sun and moon shed tears from their eyes.' Other poets, writers and artists too outdid themselves, when it came to speaking about the Taj. Rabindranath Tagore, for instance called it 'a tear drop upon the cheek of time.' The British painter Hodges compared it to 'a perfect pearl on an azure ground - with an effect so dazzling that no other work of art can ever produce.' Even the otherwise reticent Rudyard Kipling found it to be 'an embodiment of all things pure.' So, what makes the Taj so universally appealing? When Shah Jahan conceptualised it, he wanted his monument to be unique. And, his architects did not let him down. The main marble tomb stands on a square plinth, with four minarets on each corner of the plinth, giving it a symmetrical design. The minarets, in fact, have been so designed that in an earthquake, they will fall away from the tomb and not on it. The surface of the tomb has been extensively decorated with exquisite calligraphs. However, what adds to Taj's beauty, many feel, is not just its physical perfectness but also the story behind it - of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz, which gives that extra touch of romance to the monument. Maybe it is this diversity, in which lies the beauty of Taj — to be different things to different people, yet still be beautiful to all. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Love_in_marble/articleshow/2215945.cms

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Taphophilia?

taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)

ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"

DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries

Taphophilia Facts

Each year in the U.S. we bury 30 million board feet of hardwoods, including tropical woods, in caskets

Taphophiles Speak

Have you decided on eternal repose?

	earthen burial
	entombment
	cremation
	donation to science
	cyrogenically frozen
	you mean I'm still alive?

Quote Repository

“There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there.”

Col. Harland Sanders

Grave Epigrams

I with my offspring here securely rest,
God takes or leaves our comforts as is best.
Prepare my friends, to meet me on that shore
Where soul bereavements shall be felt no more.

Dedham, MA 1821