Taj Mahal

The story of Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is the ivory-white marble mausoleum standing on the right bank of the Yamuna, and the thing to notice first is that it is not just one building but the centrepiece of a 17-hectare complex with a mosque, a guest house, formal gardens, and a crenellated wall around three sides.

It was commissioned in 1631 by Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor, to house the tomb of his late wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It also became his own resting place later on. The name itself points to that memory: Taj Mahal is understood as “Crown of the Palace,” and an early court text by Abdul Hamid Lahori calls it rauza-i munawwara, meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb.

What you are looking at was a huge imperial project. More than 20,000 workers and artisans were employed under a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the emperor’s court architect. The complex was not the work of a single hand: the design and supervision included figures named as Ismail Afandi, Ustad Isa, Isa Muhammad Effendi, Puru, Amanat Khan Shirazi, Qazim Khan, Muhammad Hanif, Mir Abdul Karim, and Mukkarimat. The building project drew on Indo-Islamic and Mughal design traditions, with white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones for the mausoleum and red sandstone for the other buildings.

Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1648, while work on the rest of the complex continued for another five years. The whole complex is believed to have been completed in 1653. The first ceremony held here was on 6 February 1643, when Shah Jahan observed the 12th anniversary of Mumtaz Mahal’s death. The cost was estimated at around ₹32 million at the time.

If you look at the main structure, the symmetry is part of the design. The mausoleum stands on a 6-metre-high square plinth, with a large multi-chambered cube and chamfered corners forming an eight-sided structure. Each side has an iwan, or arch-shaped doorway, and above each is a 33-metre-high pishtaq, a vaulted archway with smaller arched balconies stacked beside it. The same motif repeats on the corners, which is what gives the whole thing its strict balance. The main inner chamber is octagonal, with jali screens fitted into openings that admit light from outside. On the platform itself, the dark and light sandstone patterns are also part of the visible fabric.

The monument’s history did not stop with completion. In December 1652, Aurangzeb wrote to Shah Jahan about leaks in the tomb, mosque, and assembly hall during the previous rainy season. In 1658, Shah Jahan was deposed by Aurangzeb and placed under house arrest at the nearby Agra Fort, from where he could see the Taj Mahal. When he died in 1666, Aurangzeb buried him next to Mumtaz Mahal inside the mausoleum. In the 18th century, the Jat rulers of Bharatpur attacked the complex and removed chandeliers and the gold and silver screen over the cenotaph; the gold shield that covered the finial was also taken away. By the late 19th century, parts had fallen into disrepair.

The building also carries a modern heritage status. UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1983, and the Taj Mahal and its setting are also a Monument of National Importance administered by the Archaeological Survey of India. Conservation has been a continuing concern because serious air pollution has damaged the marble, stone inlays, and sandstone; the ASI and the Government of India have cleaned surfaces, replaced deteriorated panels, and restricted nearby industries.

For visitors today, the complex opens on all days except Fridays, from one hour before sunrise to 45 minutes before sunset. You enter through one of three gates, and because polluting vehicles are not allowed near the complex, the last approach is on foot or by electric bus from the parking areas. If you want one detail to pause at before moving on, make it the central dome over the white marble core, because everything here is arranged around that one symmetrical tomb.