தாஜ் மஹால்Taj Mahal

Commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1632 and completed in 1653, the Taj Mahal is a white-marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna in Agra, built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in childbirth. It took roughly 20,000 craftsmen, drawn from across the Mughal empire and beyond, to finish the central tomb, four minarets, mosque, guest house, and the formal charbagh garden enclosed by red sandstone walls. The monument is a culmination of Indo-Islamic architecture: pietra dura inlay using semi-precious stones from across Asia, calligraphic verses from the Quran framing the iwan arches, and a perfect bilateral symmetry broken only by Shah Jahan's own tomb (placed beside Mumtaz's after his death). The marble shifts colour through the day — pinkish at dawn, brilliant white at noon, golden under moonlight — which is why repeat visits are a thing. UNESCO inscribed it in 1983. Entry is restricted on Fridays (closed for prayers at the on-site mosque). Foreigner ticket is steeply higher than the Indian rate but includes a bottle of water, shoe covers, and access to the main mausoleum platform. Photography is allowed in the gardens but prohibited inside the tomb chamber.