Taj Mahal

A monument to love — a marvel in white marble

Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. It's made of pure white marble and took 20,000 craftsmen 22 years to build. Flowers of precious stones are carved into its walls. The building changes colour through the day: pink at dawn, white at noon, silver by moonlight! Shah Jahan's ancestors came from Samarkand and Andijan.

The Taj Mahal (1632–1653) is the mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, in Agra on the Yamuna River. The Mughals were a dynasty founded by Zahiriddin Babur (born in Andijan), a descendant of Amir Temur — hence the clear Samarkand influence (the Gur-e-Amir dome) in its architecture. White Makrana marble with 'pietra dura' inlay of 28 kinds of precious stone; the dome is 73 m; the 4 minarets lean outward so they wouldn't fall on the tomb in an earthquake. Perfect symmetry — broken only by Shah Jahan's own tomb (added later). Its cost in today's money is about 1 billion dollars. Air pollution is yellowing the marble — cars are banned nearby. A UNESCO site (1983), 7 million visitors a year.

Fun facts

• The Taj Mahal's minarets lean outward on purpose — so they won't fall on the tomb in an earthquake.
• The building changes colour 3 times a day: pink, white, silver.
• The dynasty that built the Taj Mahal descended from Babur, born in Andijan — compare it with Samarkand's domes!