The Taj Mahal, which is ranked as one of the wonders of the world, is the most popularly known masterpiece of architecture in India .It is a worth seeing historical monument and is the most hunting spot for tourists from both India and abroad.  It is a great passion of the people of every corners of the world to make a pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal.  Many great poets and thinkers are highly impressed by the marvelous beauty of the Taj, so that they have called it as a drop of love on the rosy cheek of time, a dream in marble or a poem in marble and symphony in stone. So exquisite is the workmanship that the Taj has been described as “having been designed by giants and finished by jewelers”.

Taj Mahal means ‘crown palace’ and it is in fact the most well-preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world. The Taj Mahal is at Agra, which was the capital of Mughal Empire during the 16th and early 17th century. Taj Mahal stands on the bank of river Yamuna, which otherwise serves as a wide moat defending the great Red Fort of Agra. Agra was the centre of Mughal emperors until they moved their capital to Delhi in 1637. The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal Emperor in 1631 in memory of his beloved second wife Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian Muslim Princess. This historical monument is a momentum love between Shah Jahan and Mumtaj Mahal. Mumtaz died while accompanying her husband Emperor Shah Jahan in Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion. The death so shocked the Emperor that all his hair and beard were said to have grown snow white in a few months.

Mumtaz, when was still alive extracted four promises from Emperor Shah Jahan: first that he will build a memorial for her after her death, second that he should marry again, third that he be kind to their children and the fourth that he must visit the tomb on her death anniversary. So after the death of Mumtaz, Shah Jahan started constructing the Taj as a tribute to love. The construction began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty thousand people were deployed to work on it. The materials used to build this majestic piece were brought in from all over India and Central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport these to the site. The Taj was designed by an architect named Ustad Isa of Iran. It is said that crores of Rupees were spent  at that time in order to construct this majestic tombstone.

The Taj Mahal rises on a high red sandstone platform topped by a huge white marble terrace on which rests the famous dome flanked by four tapering minarets.  On the four corners of the platform the four towers act like four sentinels of this central crown of glory. Within the dome there is the jewel-inlaid cenotaph of queen Mumtaz. The only asymmetrical object in the Taj is the casket of the Emperor Shah Jahan, which was built beside the queen’s as an afterthought. Shah Jahan was deposed by his son and imprisoned in the Red Fort of Agra for long eight years. During his imprisonment, he had a view of the Taj from the other side of river yamuna. After his death he was buried in the Taj.

As a tribute to a beloved wife and a beautiful woman, the Taj Mahal expresses its posture as a monument for enduring love. The rectangular base of Taj is in itself symbolic of the different sides from which to view a beautiful woman. The main gate is lake a veil to a newly married woman’s face, which should be lifted delicately, gently, and without haste to see her face. The dome of Taj is made of white marble, but the tomb is set against the plain across the river. This is the background, which works as magic of colours that, through their reflection the view of Taj is changed. The colours change at the different hours of the day and during different seasons. The Taj, like a jewel sparkles in moonlight when the precious stones inlaid into the white marble on the main mausoleum receive the glow of the moon. The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden at night when the moon shines. In a full moonlight the beauty of Taj smiles in the silvery light of the moon as it is a sight for the gods to see. As God is there to bestow Nature’s beauty.

Throughout all these centuries, Taj Mahal has withstood all the severities of time and weather, but still it has preserved its ancient glory and splendour. It would be more justified to say that the Taj Mahal has a life of its own that leaps out of marble. As a monument of love, it is the most beautiful and superb architectural masterpiece, nothing can be added or subtracted from it. It is also hoped that in the years to come, it will continue to be ranked among the best wonders of the world.