Women who built monuments for husbands

Normally most people think men can express their love better than women. This belief prevails because they can show their love via their spending.

Even the people think most men built monuments for their lovers and wives.

But, do you know that there are some women in the history who built historic monuments for their partners as well?

Virupaksha Temple at Pattadakal was built by Queen Lokamahadevi. This is different from the Virupaksha Temple of Hampi. She built this temple in 740 AD to commemorate the victory of her husband King Vikramaditya II on the Pallava rulers. The temple is a fusion of both the north Indian Nagara style as well as the south Indian Dravida style of architecture. The temple is also called the Lokeshwara Temple.

Rani Ka Vav at Patan was built by Udaymati in the 11th century for her husband King Bhimdev I. It is an intricately constructed stepwell. It has seven levels of stairs and over 500 principal sculptures.

Humayun’s tomb at Delhi was built by his wife, Hamida Banu Begum or Haji Begum. It was the first garden tomb in the Indian subcontinent. It was also the first Indian building that used the Persian double dome in its architecture. This red sandstone mausoleum is reputed for ornamented tile work and carved stones..

Red Taj Mahal in Agra was built by Anne Hessing for her husband John Hessing. Hessing arrived to India in 1739 to serve the Marathas and Nizam of Hyderabad. He also worked as a Commandant of Agra Fort and died there due to ill health. His wife built his tomb with red sandstone.

The Tomb of Jahangir was built by his wife Nur Jahan in 1637. It is in Lahore, Pakistan. Some contemporary historians claim that it was built by his son Shah Jahan. However, several others attribute the credit to Nur Jahan who had built her father’s mausoleum. She might have been inspired from that design and funded the construction.

Image Credit: Hakri’s CC BY 2.0

Image Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/92061107@N07/15451066691