I give you the "Taj Mahal"

Well, I certainly took my time with this piece.  From what I can tell I have been working on the Taj Mahal on and off for just under 5 years, yes - 5 years.  Why so long?  Other pieces kept getting in the way, but I needed to finish this.

I love the pictures I have seen of the Taj Mahal and was inspired to work on it from those pictures.  Several of my favorite residents from over the years are originally from India (giving me the inspiration also for Ganesha, another bead embroidered piece) and what better way to acknowledge the changes in my life due to them.

August 2009 through May 2014

I shouldn't feel so bad that it took so long.  The original Taj Mahal took over 20 years to build, and includes marble from around the world.

You can see progress photos of this work through time by visiting the link here:
http://thebadliz.blogspot.com/search/label/taj%20mahal

The Taj Mahal started construction in 1632 after Mumtaz Mahal died during the birth of her 14th child.  The Emperor Shah Jahan described the Taj Mahal:

Should guilty seek asylum here,

Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.

Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,

All his past sins are to be washed away.

The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;

And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.

In this world this edifice has been made;

To display thereby the creator's glory.