The Taj Mahal isn’t a castle, isn’t a mosque and neither is it a palace. It’s actually a mausoleum for the wife Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who commenced the building of the mausoleum in the memory of his beloved wife.

If Paris is the city of love, then the Taj Mahal is looked upon as the symbol of everlasting love. The Taj Mahal is seen as an architectural marvel, a source of admiration surrounding the culture and geography of India as well as a symbol of personal and emotional connection of love, loyalty and feelings of sorrow and happiness.

In 1983, the Taj as it is also known became a UNESCO World Heritage site and is cited as ‘the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”  The Taj is built using Mughal architecture which contains a combination of architectural design elements such as the Persian, Ottoman, Indian and Islamic architectural art with workers, sculptors, calligraphers, in layers and stone cutters of the finest from Syria, Persia and Bukhara carving, sculpting and cutting day and night to produce the monument as we see it today.

Shah Jahan ordered the building of the Taj Mahal in 1632 and was completed in 1653. Each section, minaret, dome, wall and ceiling incorporates beautiful carvings and engravements by the era’s finest artisans and craftsmen. The principal designer of the Taj Mahal was credited to Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Annually, the Taj Mahal attracts about two to four million visitors from all over the world with peak months during October, November and February. Just like all ancient structures like the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal is also prone to the dangers of pollution such as acid rain and erosion.

One of the most famous wall ever built on the face of the earth and can also be seen many millions miles in space is the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall was built to protect the people and the dynasties in China from the Huns and other warrior tribes from the north. Building the Great Wall is no easy feat as it took about two thousand years with the first section of construction beginning in the 7th and 6th century BC.

The Great Wall is hugely vast as is expands 4000 miles westward. Many ordinary folk have died building the Great Wall as is was built with wisdom, dedication, blood, sweat and tears. This century long project took the lives of an estimated two to three million Chinese. China’s Great Wall was conferred the title of the UNESCO World Heritage Site as is not only stands as a wall, but a symbol of bravery and wisdom of the Chinese people.

The Great Wall of China is a pride of the nation and its people. The Great Wall at first was mainly built of earth, stones and wood before the use of bricks. Some parts of the wall are very steep and tall in some areas. Walking along the Great Wall of China can serve both as amazement as well as an exhausting experience. The amazing part is how the wall was constructed without the machinery, materials and power that exist today. The wall was created using simple tools, local materials and an immense man power. The exhaustive part is the walk along the Great Wall with its occasionally steep terrain and rough bricks. Tourists who walk the Great Wall can walk no more than a kilometer or two.