Popular Five Travel Agency in India

MakeMyTrip.com
A great idea born at the right time is not just bound to succeed but it also becomes a trend-setting revolution of sorts. MakeMyTrip.com began as a great idea and has gone on to pioneer the online travel industry in India. The MakeMytrip.com story serves as an inspiring case for us and for our partners.
MakeMyTrip.com was launched in the year 2000 for the booming ‘USA to India’ travel market.

Travelguru.com
Travelguru is India’s leading travel website, offering you the best prices on flights, hotels and holiday packages across India and the world. Travelguru makes planning and buying a holiday or a business trip easy and convenient.
Travelguru’s current product offering consists of airline tickets, hotel rooms, vacation packages and cruises. We will shortly be expanding our services to offer a wide array of travel-related services including car rentals.

Topindiatour.com
We at Top Tour and Travel (P) Ltd. , established in 1985, to plan and develop holidays with special care to inculcate the spirit of India in every tour. We work meticulously to offer you unique and customized itineraries which will help you capture the heart and soul of a destination.We are one of the leading travel agents and tour operators in India and duly recognized and approved by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India. We are also members of various prestigious national and international travel trade associations like PATA, IATO, TAAI, JATA, ASTA, USTOA and AFTA.

Yatra.com
Yatra Online Pvt. Ltd. is a smart travel company providing information, pricing, availability and booking facility for air travel, hotels, buses and car rentals across 5000 large cities and small rural areas around the globe. As an online travel company, Yatra.com acts as a complete tour planner for travelers and is a one-stop shop for every travel need.

Zoomtra.com
Zoomtra.com is a travel search engine. We display comprehensive information from multiple travel providers, based on your preferences, to help select your travel options lightning fast. This helps you save time, effort and most importantly – tons of cash.

The Red Fort

The Red Fort of Agra is perhaps one of the most brilliantly made specimens of Mughal architecture. The fort displays the creative and artistic genius of the the then artisans and the craftsmen to the fullest. Built by three of the Mughals Emperors – Akbar, Jehangir and Shahjehan, the fort is one of the must see tourist destinations in India. It took several decades to build this vast & extraordinary monument of galore.
It was Sultan Sikander Lodi, who first started to construct a fort here.Sikandara lodi 1st named the fort Badalgarh.but in the age of Akbar(Mughal emperor) he replaced the fort name with this high red sandstone ramparts, which give the fort its name-Lal quila(Red fort).The construction of the Red Fort was completed by Shahjehan in 1648.As he wanted to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. But, before he could do this, he was captured and imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb in the fort itself, where he stayed until his last breath.

Building Materials Used for the Construction of Taj Mahal

Building Materials Used for the Construction of Taj Mahal In the construction of the Taj Mahal three types of stones have been used : (1) Semi-precious stones like Aqiq (agate), Yemeni, Firoza (turquoise), Lajwad (Lapis- lazuli); moonga (coral), Sulaimani (onyx), Lahsunia (cat’s eye), Yasheb (jade) and Pitunia (blood stone). These were mainly used for inlaying work. (2) Rare and scarce stones such as Tilai (goldstone), Zahar-mohra, Ajuba, Abri, Khathu, Nakhod and Maknatis (magnet stone) were used for bold inlay and mosaic work chiefly on floors, exterior dados and turrets and (3) Common stones: sang-i-Gwaliari (grey and yellow sandstone) sang-i-Surkh (red sandstone), sang-i-moosa (black slate) and sang-i-Rukhan (sang-i-marmar; white marble) were used in foundations, masonry and for giving finishing touch to the external surfaces. Red stone was brought from the neighboring towns like Fatehpur Sikri, Karauli-Hindaun, Tantpur and Paharpur whereas white marble was brought from Makrana mines (Rajasthan). Semi precious and rare stones were occasionally brought from as distant places such as Upper Tibet, Kumaon, Jaisalmer, Cambay and Ceylon. 
 
Other materials which were used for the construction of Taj Mahal included different kind of bricks, Gaj-i-Shirin (sweet limestone), Khaprel or tiles, Qulba or Spouts to lead off water, San, Gum, Sirish-i-Kahli or reed glue, Gul-i-Surkh or red clay, Simgil (silver clay) and glass. The center and skeleton of the main building is made up of extra strong brick masonary in which massive white marble slabs, have been used on the headers and stretchers system to give it a white marble outlook. Country ingredients such as molasses; batashe (sugar-bubbles), belgiri-water, urd-pulse, curd, jute and Kankar (pieces of fossilized soil) were mixed with lime mortar to make it an ideal cementing material. 
 
The Mughals believed that the precious and semiprecious stones have different effects on the fortunes of different persons and places; they may be auspicious or inauspicious. This has exactly been calculated and strictly adhered to in the adornment of the Taj Mahal. It is primarily because of these reasons that we see predominance of one or the other stone on a particular feature of its architecture. A number of marks are engraved on red stone slabs, on the pathways, stairs, plinths and pavements of the Taj Mahal. Some of them are- Symbolic motifs Swastika, Cakra, âako¸a (Hexagon), Paµcako¸a (Pentagon), áa´kh (conch-shell), Animate motifs – fish, bi rd, Geometrical motifs – triangle, Square, rectangle, Floral motifs- leaves and petals of the flowers chiefly lotus.

Taj Mahal means

Taj Mahal means “Crown Palace” and is the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world. Edwin Arnold an English poet described the Taj Mahal as “Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones.”  

The Taj Mahal, often called the most beautiful building in the world, was built by an emperor as a memorial to his beloved wife.

Prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan, was born in 1592. His father was Jahangir, the fourth Mughal emperor of India. According to legend, the prince met Arjumand Banu Begum, the daughter of his father’s prime minister, at a bazaar when he was 14 and she was 15. Smitten, the prince bought a diamond from the girl for 10,000 rupees, then went to his father and announced his desire to marry her.

Their wedding took place five years later, in 1612. From that time they were inseparable (although Shah Jahan also had other wives). After becoming emperor in 1628, Shah Jahan entrusted Arjumand Banu with the royal seal. He called her Mumtaz Mahal, “jewel of the palace.” She accompanied him on military campaigns, advised him on affairs of state, and was loved by his subjects for her charitable work.

The Taj

 The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal  is considered the introduce  of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”

While the white domed marble and tile mausoleum is most familiar, Taj Mahal is an integrated symmetric complex of structures that was completed around 1648. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered as the principal designer of Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal History

Taj Mahal India – Located at Agra in Uttar Pradesh, the Taj Mahal is one of the most splendid masterpieces of architecture in the world. It was Emperor Shah Jehan who ordered the building of the Taj Mahal, in honor of his beloved wife, Arjumand Banu who was later known as Mumtaz Mahal, which means, the Distinguished of the Palace.

Taj Mahal History : Mumtaz and Shah Jehan were married in 1612 A.D  had 14 children together. The Empress Mumtaz used to accompany her husband in his military campaigns, and it was  in Burhanpur in 1630, that she gave birth to her last child, after which she died. So great was the Shah Jahan’s love for his wife Mumtaz, that he ordered the building of the most beautiful mausoleum on Earth for her, The Taj Mahal.  As soon as construction work began in early 1630, sculptors, masons, craftsmen, and calligraphers were called from Persia, Ottoman Empire and Europe to work on construction of the Taj.  The architectural complex of the Taj Mahal comprises of five main elements: the Darwaza or main gateway, the Bageecha or garden, the Masjid or mosque, the Naqqar Khana or rest house, and the Rauza or the Taj Mahal mausoleum. The actual Tomb of Mumtaz is situated inside the Taj. The unique moghal style architecture combines elements & styles of Persian, Central Asian, and Islamic architecture. Most striking are the black and white chessboard marble floor, the four tall minarets (40 m high) at the corners of the structure, and the majestic grand dome in the middle. On closer inspection, the lettering of the Holy Quran verses around the archways appear to be uniform. The lettering spacing and density has been customized to give this impression to the viewer. The impressive pietra dura artwork includes geometric elements & style, plants & flowers, which are common in Islamic architecture. The level of sophistication in artwork includes a 3 cm decorative element containing more than 50 inlaid gemstones.