Taj Mahal
above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble as the
footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick
scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen estimated it
would take years to dismantle. According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could
keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A
fifteen kilometer tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the
construction site. Teams of twenty or thirty oxen were strained to pull blocks on specially
constructed wagons.
The plinth and tomb took roughly 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex
took an additional 10 years.
Facts: The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. Over
1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials during the construction. The
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