One of the seven wonders of the world, India's Taj Mahal, just got a little more interesting after a researcher discovered that its gardens align perfectly with the sun during the summer and winter solstices.
Architects originally built the gardens at the Taj Mahal in the Persian style, which means that the gardens are rectangular, with each corner of the garden representing the four corners of the Earth. The gardens at the Taj Mahal, in particular symbolize the Gardens of Eden.
However, the alignment of the gardens isn't just symbolic. It's also likely that architects used the sun for keeping the design of the garden perfectly straight on a north-south axis.
"However, in their planning, architects could also use some elements aligned in the directions of sunrise or sunset," writes Amelia Carolina Sparavigna from the Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino. "In fact, architects have six main directions: two are joining cardinal points (north-south, east-west) and four are those given by sunrise and sunset on summer and winter solstices."
Whatever the case, from the central north part of the garden, there is a waterway, and from that waterway if you look towards the northeast pavilion during the summer solstice, on June 21, you'll see the sun rise directly above it. Later in the day, the sun sets below a pavilion in the northwest. During the winter solstice, the sun rises above a pavilion in the southeast and sets behind another in the southwest.
Other similar structures have this alignment, but what's most striking about the Taj Mahal's garden is that it's one of the world's most perfect examples of a structure aligned with the summer and winter solstices.
Emperor Shah Jahan ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal was built in the 1600s as a memorial to his third wife. The mausoleum holds many structures, including pavilions, gardens, tombs and waterworks. It is often considered "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage." Over 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal per year.
One popular rumor concerning the Taj Mahal is that the emperor had the hands of the architect and his workers cut off after they completed the project so that they could never build anything as magnificent again.
The ornamental gardens of the Taj Mahal features fountains, cypress trees, pools and 16 flower beds, each bed containing around 400 plants.
