Mini-Movies
Arches
and Symmetry at the Taj Mahal
Lord Curzon's Brass Lamp
Calligraphy and Inscriptions
Islamic Decorative Schemes
Dados of the Taj Mahal
The Dome of the Mausoleum
The Interior of the Main Dome
The Finial of the Main Dome
The Forecourt and Taj Ganj
Features of the Paradise Garden
Chahar bagh - Gardens of
Paradise
The Gateway to the Taj Mahal
The Mehmenkhana ( Guesthouse )
Parchin Kari - Marble Inlay
Hasht Bihisht and the Central Chamber
Stones and Marbles of the Taj Mahal
The Minaret and the Muezzin
The Varied Moods of the Taj Mahal
The Mosque
The Inspiration for the Taj Mahal
The Decorative Guldastas ( Pinnacles
)
Preserving the Taj Mahal
The River Yamuna
Jalis around the Cenotaphs
Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal
Panoramas
p06am
- Early Morning View of Monument
p06pm - Late Afternoon View
of Monument
p11 - In the Gardens, near
the Museum
p15 - near the South Wall
p17 - Rooftop Kiosk
p21 - Rooftop view of Mosque,
Gardens and River
p23 - between Guest House and
Monument
p24 - North Side, River View
p34 - on Platform, near Minaret
p47 - Mosque Vestibule
p51 - Celestial Pool, center
of gardens
p55 - inside the Gatehouse
p57 - the Gatehouse Courtyard
p59 - inside the Monument,
entrance
p61 - inside the Monument,
near screen
p69 - inside the Monument,
near cenotaphs
p73 - inside the Monument,
an interior room
p74 - between the Mosque and
the Monument
p75 - between the Mosque & the
Monument
p76 - inside the Monument,
The Crypt Tombs
p77 - The Monument, front view
p99 - view from a Minaret
- Armchair Travel for Virtual Travel (R)
Press Release Text follows: Explore the Taj Mahal (www.taj-mahal.net) is a free, online virtual tour of the most beautiful building in the world. "WOW...Thrilling...Exotic...Ravishing...Sumptuous...5-STARS," says The Sunday Times of London about the website virtual tour. Explore the Taj Mahal - the beautiful, online Virtual Tour of the exquisite Taj Mahal monument in India, now offers completely free access at www.taj-mahal.net Armchair Travel are happy to announce that Explore the Taj Mahal is now completely free, and supported by sponsors ( NO Popups! ). This means that schools, academics, and armchair travelers may visit the Taj Mahal at any time via their computer screens. The Sunday Times reviewed many virtual tour websites, including the "Explore the Taj Mahal" Website. Explore the Taj Mahal was the ONLY site to receive their top-rating of 5-STARS. • "WOW...Thrilling...Exotic...Ravishing...Sumptuous...5-STARS," Tourists, teachers, historians and students may now take a free, interactive, "virtual tour" around the Most Beautiful Building in the World, as if they were there. They will be able to see and hear everything about the site, its gardens and history by simply connecting to our website. • " The most sophisticated virtual tour. You can almost hear your footsteps reverberate around the rooms," says The Daily Mail of London. Explore the Taj Mahal is the third in a series of 'World Heritage Explorer series' web sites. The London-based company has employed a technique it has developed over ten years called Virtual Travel ®, based on proprietary photographic techniques, Macromedia Flash, and the Java PTviewer Panoramic Display Engine. • " Sites like Explore the Taj Mahal are inspirational in terms of the way Armchair Travel have translated a three-dimensional lived experience into an online 2-D format," says The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Full Text of the entire tour is integrated completely into the interactive website, which makes it ideal for the Hearing-Impaired. The site displays 360° panoramic views, movies, narration and music to create a photo-real, interactive tour. The site also includes a full set of oadable Microsoft Word files, including pictures, for use by schools, teachers and students. • "A comprehensive virtual tour of this stunning monument," says Open Directory Project. Upon entering the grounds of the Taj Mahal ( www.taj-mahal.net ), 'virtual visitors' can look around by panning left and right on the small pano. Having spotted something of interest they can click to open a window with a much larger and higher quality panorama, and then zoom in and pan around for closer looks, for example: To view the inlaid semi-precious stones on the dome itself. An easy-to-follow map also ensures that, unlike the real tourist, they can jump around the gardens and monument at the click of a button. There are even exclusive 360° panoramic views taken from the Roof and in the Crypt of the monument - these areas are Off-Limits to tourists at the site itself. All of the panoramas have descriptive narration, music and MS Word files with pictures. William Beckett from Armchair Travel said, "If a user wanted to see and hear everything on the website, it would take over two hours to view it all, thus making this the most comprehensive guided tour of an historic site yet produced on the world-wide web. This site should make this monument available to a wide range of virtual visitors who would otherwise never be able to see its splendor. Armchair Travel's "World Heritage Explorer" programs will help alleviate the burden for access to internationally important sites, such the Taj Mahal, while producing income for preservation through donations. Many of the most famous monuments are threatened with closure to prevent the damage caused by admitting yet more tourists." Four hundred years of the monument's history are brought to life, with the key figures in the story of the Taj Mahal being presented in 25 specially produced movies (suitable for both broadband and dialup connection). These include video essays on the main features of the monument, such as its dome, the crypt cenotaphs, Islamic inscriptions and art, etc, and especially those features not visible to most tourists. The Website is now available in English, French, Hindi and Japanese. • "An excellent interactive Flash presentation of the Taj Mahal, with a map of the complex, and panoramic photos of both the grounds and the interiors of the buildings," says Greg Cruey, Asia for Visitors, About.com. William Donelson from Armchair Travel said: "People are increasingly looking to the web for entertainment as well as information, and travel seems likely to prove one of the most popular subjects. Armchair Travel are at the forefront of this new technology."
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