ORIGINS OF TAJ MAHAL’S MARBLE

"Agra - Taj Mahal" by micbaun is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The Taj Mahal is made of a special type of marble called Makrana marble. It is locally known as "Sang-e-Marmar".

Makrana marble comes from a town with the same name in Nagaur district, Rajasthan, about 100 km from Jaipur.

Makrana Marble is a metamorphic rock. All metamorphic rocks start their journey as sedimentary rocks, in this case, limestone (calcium carbonate (CaCO₃)).

For a long time, about 1450 million years ago (Proterozoic Eon), India was still part of a super-continent called Rodinia & the Aravalli ranges were very young.

Parts of India were submerged under the ocean where microorganisms were extracted.

Calcium and CO₂ from the seawater precipitated into calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), i.e., limestone.

When the oceans receded, new rocks were deposited on top of the limestone and it got buried deep inside the earth, where high temperatures and pressures compressed it into Makrana marble.

Over time, tectonic forces lifted up the rocks of this area and exposed them near the surface, where at present, over 800 quarries operate over an area of 30 km².

Makrana marble is commonly used in flooring, making sculptures, and garden furniture & fountains, etc.