Makrana marble is a type of white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, popular for use in

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and building decor. It is mined in the town of

Makrana Makrana is an urban city located at the centre of Rajasthan in Nagaur district. It also served as a tehsil headquarters, with 136 villages under its jurisdiction thus making it the largest tehsil in the district. The biggest village of Makra ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and was used in the construction of several iconic monuments such as the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

and the

Victoria Memorial The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building on the Maidan in Central Kolkata, built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, Empress of India from 1876 to 1901. The largest monument to a monarch anywhere ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. The Makrana Marble is listed as a Global Heritage Stone Resource by International Union of Geological Sciences

Geology

In the Makrana area, marble is found as five steeply-dipping bands. They form part of the Ajmer Formation of the Delhi Supergroup, which is a sequence of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s that was deposited in the Delhi Basin during the

Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided ...

. About 1450 Ma (million years ago) these rocks were affected by the Delhi Orogeny, causing the

metamorphism Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of , and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of chem ...

that transformed the original

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

s to marble and the

folding Fold, folding or foldable may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure * Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot *Abov ...

that caused the steep dip and the current

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...

pattern.

Properties

Makrana is regarded as the oldest place in India with a marble quarry. Upon mining, Makrana marble is not subjected to any form of treatment, but used in cutting and chiseling straight away. Makrana marble is one of the two calcitic marble varieties in India, with all others being

dolomitic Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...

. It has two varieties: white and albeta. The quantity of marble reserves in the region is estimated to be 55 million tonnes by the state government. About 120 thousand tonnes of the marble are produced annually from over 400 mines in the region. Makrana marble has a high percentage of

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

and is therefore resistant to water seepage. The water absorption of Makrana marble is said to be the lowest among all types in India, and the marble is claimed to contain 98 percent of calcium carbonate and only two percent of impurities, this property of Makrana marble helps it to stay the same proportion of white for a long period of time and because it contains 98 percent of calcium the polish of this marble is considered in the best. The different shades of Makrana marble are pure white, white with grey shades and white with pink shades, depending on the level of impurities. The close interlocking property of the marble makes it strong, hard and translucent. It is said to retain its shine and white color for a long period of time.

Types of Makrana Marble

Makrana Marbles splits into various categories according to its design and pattern. The following are the exclusive marbles that are mined and manufactured at Makran

Makrana White Marble This marble is highly used in residential & commercial buildings and numerous temples, mosques, churches, and monuments, it can be used for decorative purpose in houses, hotels, corporate offices and Restaurants, western and Indian sculptures, handicrafts. Brown Albeta Marble This marble stone is a calcite stone. It is a milky white marble and also available in grey and panther brown pattern. The stone is available in various forms such as natural blocks, large & small slabs, regular tiles. Dungri Marble This is one of the oldest and finest quality marble of makrana based mines. This stone is widely used in flooring, and wall cladding due to its special qualities like no chemical reinforcement, no color changes, and no pin holes. Albeta Marble This is one of the best as well as highly recommended stone for floor designs which gives luxury look to the home. Its color is milky white with a brown texture. Pink Marble Because of the stunning pink color it is used for decorative purposes in houses. Also, this is one of the most popular marble types.

Notable monuments and buildings

Prominent buildings/monuments that used Makrana marble in their construction are: *

, Agra, India * Victoria Memorial (India), Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, India – Makrana marble was chosen over various other European types in the construction of the Victoria Memorial, after several tests concluded Makrana marble to be superior. Sir

Thomas Henry Holland Sir Thomas Henry Holland (22 November 1868 – 15 May 1947) was a British geologist who worked in India with the Geological Survey of India, serving as its director from 1903 to 1910. He later worked as an educational administrator at Edi ...

, a British geologist, was given credit for recommending the use of Makrana marble in the construction of Victoria Memorial. *

Sheikh Zayed Mosque The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque ( ar, جَامِع ٱلشَّيْخ زَايِد ٱلْكَبِيْر, Jāmiʿ Ash-Shaykh Zāyid Al-Kabīr) is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The largest mosque in the countr ...

, Abu Dhabi, UAE * Moti Masjid, Lahore, Pakistan * Dukhnivaran Sahib Gurdwara, Ludhiana, India

Use and export

Marble from Makrana is exported overseas mainly to the

Persian Gulf countries The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In India, it is mainly used for handicraft and sculpture work, apart from construction of buildings. Makrana marble was given the

geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

status in 2015 by the Geographical Indication Registry,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

References

{{reflist, 30em Marble Mining in Rajasthan Nagaur district Geographical indications in Rajasthan