印度名胜泰姬陵Taj Mahal

 　The construction of this marble masterpiece is credited to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who erected this mausoleum in memory of his beloved wife， Arjumarid Bano Begum； popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal， who died in A.H. 1040 （A.D. 1630）。 泰姬陵是国王Shah Jahan为了自己死去的妻子Bano建造的。

　　Her last wish to her husband was "to build a tomb in her memory such as the world had never seen before". Thus emperor Shah Jahan set about building this fairy tale like marvel. 　这为王后的最后期望是希望的她的丈夫为她建造一个世界前所未有的坟墓。

　　The construction of Taj Mahal was started in A.D. 1632 and completed at the ended in 1648 A.D. For seventeen years， twenty thousand workmen are said to have been employed on it daily， for their accommodation a small town， named after the deceased empress- 'Mumtazabad'， now known as Taj Ganj， was built adjacent to it. 　泰姬陵于公元1632年开始建造，花费了17年的时间，在每天都动用了2万工人。

　　Amanat Khan Shirazi was the calligrapher of Taj Mahal， his name occurs at the end of an inscription on one of the gates of the Taj. Poet Ghiyasuddin had designed the verses on the tombstone， while Ismail Khan Afridi of Turkey was the dome maker. Muhammad Hanif was the superintendent of Masons. Amanat是泰姬陵的书法家，他的名字刻在了大门的题词下方。　诗人Ghiyasuddin也做了韵诗。　ISmail制作了园拱顶，Hanif是泥瓦匠监督。

　　The designer of Taj Mahal was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The material was brought in from allover India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site. The central dome is 187 ft. high at the centre. 制作材料是用1000头大象从印度各地和亚洲中部运来的。

　　Red sandstone was brought from Fatehpur Sikri， Jasper from Punjab， Jade and Crystal from China， Turquoise from Tibet， Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire from Sri Lanka， Coal & Comelian from Arabia and Diamonds from Panna. In all 28 kind of rare， semi precious and precious stones were used （or inlay work in the Taj Mahal.　翡翠和水晶是从中国而来。

　　The chief building material， the white marble was brought from the quarries of Makrana， in distt. Nagaur， Rajasthan. Copies of orders （farmans） issued to Raja Jai Singh， for the purpose by Shah Jahan， can be seen in the Taj Museum.

　　Taj Mahal's outer court， also known as Jilo Khana， was formerly used both as a bazar and a caravansarai （Rest house）。 On the south-east and south-west comers are the tombs of Sirhindi Begum and Satiunnisa Khanum. The Taj has a jewel-like quality. 　泰姬陵的外围广场用来做大市场和休息厅。

　　The shadow and light play demonstrates its many moods.

　　Some feel the Taj is best seen on a full moon night， others find it ethereal at dawn while some insist that it is sensuous at sunset. 　有些人认为泰姬陵在全月时的夜晚看起来最漂亮。有些人也认为黎明前看来有灵气，日落时看有感性。