Quiz on The Taj Mahal

In which country is the Taj Mahal located?

• India ✓ (Correct answer)
• Pakistan
• Nepal
• Bangladesh

Source: Despite its Persian-influenced style, it stands in the city of Agra in northern India.

The Taj Mahal was built mainly to serve as what?

• A grand palace
• A tomb ✓ (Correct answer)
• A fortress
• A temple

Source: It dazzles like a palace, but it is actually a mausoleum built over two graves.

The Taj Mahal's gleaming exterior is built mostly from what?

• Granite
• Sandstone
• White marble ✓ (Correct answer)
• Concrete

Source: Translucent white marble makes it glow pink at dawn and silvery under moonlight.

An emperor built the Taj Mahal in memory of his...

• mother
• daughter
• sister
• wife ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth, and her heartbroken husband built her this tomb.

Who commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal?

• A Mughal emperor ✓ (Correct answer)
• A Persian shah
• A British viceroy
• An Ottoman sultan

Source: Emperor Shah Jahan poured a huge share of the empire's wealth into it.

Roughly how long did it take to build the Taj Mahal?

• About 2 years
• About 20 years ✓ (Correct answer)
• About 70 years
• About 200 years

Source: Construction ran from about 1632 to 1653, just over two decades of work.

What kind of large feature surrounds the Taj Mahal's approach?

• A dense forest
• A sandy desert
• A formal garden ✓ (Correct answer)
• A salt lake

Source: A Persian-style 'paradise garden' with water channels frames the walk to the tomb.

How many tall towers stand at the corners of the Taj Mahal?

• Two
• Six
• Eight
• Four ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Four matching minarets frame the tomb in perfect balance.

Which Indian city is the Taj Mahal located in?

• Agra ✓ (Correct answer)
• Jaipur
• Delhi
• Lucknow

Source: It sits in Agra, once a capital of the Mughal Empire.

The Taj Mahal is officially counted among which group?

• The Ancient Wonders of the World
• The New Seven Wonders of the World ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Eight Great Temples
• The Lost Cities of Asia

Source: It is far too young for the ancient list; it joined the New7Wonders in 2007.

On the bank of which river does the Taj Mahal stand?

• The Ganges
• The Indus
• The Yamuna ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Narmada

Source: Not the holy Ganges, but its largest tributary, the Yamuna.

The Taj Mahal's four minarets were deliberately tilted slightly...

• inward
• forward
• backward
• outward ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Tilting outward means an earthquake would topple them away from the central dome.

How was the heavy marble mainly hauled to the Taj Mahal site?

• By elephants ✓ (Correct answer)
• By river barge
• By ox-cart
• By camel caravan

Source: Around a thousand elephants dragged the marble from quarries in Rajasthan.

The Taj Mahal's famous central dome is best described as...

• pyramid-shaped
• onion-shaped ✓ (Correct answer)
• flat-topped
• cube-shaped

Source: The bulbous 'onion' dome is crowned by a finial nearly 10 metres tall.

The complex is almost perfectly symmetrical, broken only by one extra...

• doorway
• fountain
• tomb ✓ (Correct answer)
• staircase

Source: The emperor's own grave, added later, is the lone break in the otherwise mirror-perfect layout.

In which century was the Taj Mahal completed?

• 12th century
• 15th century
• 19th century
• 17th century ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Finished around 1653, it is younger than many European cathedrals.

Beside the tomb, the Taj Mahal complex also contains a working...

• mosque ✓ (Correct answer)
• library
• palace
• market

Source: A red sandstone mosque flanks it, mirrored by a twin building added purely for symmetry.

About how many workers are said to have built the Taj Mahal?

• About 5,000
• About 20,000 ✓ (Correct answer)
• About 200,000
• About 1,000

Source: Some 20,000 artisans and laborers worked for over two decades.

The Taj Mahal's flower patterns are inlaid using a technique called...

• fresco
• mosaic
• pietra dura ✓ (Correct answer)
• filigree

Source: Pietra dura sets polished gems like jade and carnelian into marble like a flawless jigsaw.

The finial crowning the Taj Mahal's main dome is now made of...

• solid gold
• silver
• marble
• gilded bronze ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: The original solid-gold finial was later replaced with a gilded bronze copy.