<P> The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia . The buildings are constructed with walls of brick and rubble inner cores faced with either marble or sandstone locked together with iron dowels and clamps . Some of the walls of the mausoleum are several metres thick . Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport the building materials during the construction . The bricks were fired locally and the sandstone was quarried 28 miles (45 km) away near Fatehpur Sikri . The white marble was brought 250 miles (400 km) from quarries belonging to Raja Jai Singh in Makrana, Rajasthan . The Jasper was sourced from the Punjab and the Jade and crystal from China . The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia . In all, 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble . Jean - Baptiste Tavernier records that the scaffolding and centering for the arches was constructed entirely in brick . Legend says that the emperor offered these scaffolding bricks to anyone who would remove them and that at the end of the construction they were removed within a week . Modern scholars dispute this and consider it much more likely that the scaffolding was made of bamboo and materials were elevated by means of timber ramps . </P> <P> Initial estimates for the cost of the works of 4,000,000 rupees had risen to 5,000,000 by completion . A waqf (trust) was established for the perpetual upkeep of the mausoleum with an income of 300,000 Rupees . One third of this income came from 30 villages in the district of Agra while the remainder came from taxes generated as a result of trade from the bazaars and caravanserais which had been built at an early stage to the south of the complex . Any surplus would be distributed by the emperor as he saw fit . As well as paying for routine maintenance, the waqf financed the expenses for the tomb attendants and the Hafiz, the Quran reciters who would sit day and night in the mausoleum and perform funerary services praying for the eternal soul of Mumtaz Mahal . </P> <P> We do not know precisely who designed the Taj Mahal today . In the Islamic world at the time, the credit for a building's design was usually given to its patron rather than its architects . From the evidence of contemporary sources, it is clear that a team of architects were responsible for the design and supervision of the works, but they are mentioned infrequently . Shah Jahan's court histories emphasise his personal involvement in the construction and it is true that, more than any other Mughal emperor, he showed the greatest interest in building, holding daily meetings with his architects and supervisors . The court chronicler Lahouri, writes that Jahan would make "appropriate alterations to whatever the skilful architects designed after many thoughts, and asked competent questions ." Two architects are mentioned by name, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri and Mir Abd - ul Karim in writings by Lahauri's son Lutfullah Muhandis . Ustad Ahmad Lahauri had laid the foundations of the Red Fort at Delhi . Mir Abd - ul Karim had been the favourite architect of the previous emperor Jahangir and is mentioned as a supervisor, together with Makramat Khan, of the construction of the Taj Mahal . </P> <Ul> <Li> Expand and add craftsmen </Li> <Li> Bebadal Khan, the poet and goldsmith </Li> <Li> Hindu craftsmen </Li> </Ul>

Who was the architect who designed taj mahal
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