Taj Mahal: The Complete Story of History, Architecture, and How to Visit

The white marble of the Taj Mahal was quarried at Makrana in Rajasthan, about 300 kilometres from Agra, and tradition says a thousand elephants helped haul it. The building took twenty two years and some twenty thousand workers to finish, and it sits on foundations that were advanced engineering for the seventeenth century. Most visitors come for the love story. This guide covers that, along with who built the Taj, what to look for once you are inside the gate, and how to plan your visit.

Who built the Taj Mahal, and for whom?

Shah Jahan, born Prince Khurram in 1592, was the fifth Mughal emperor. He came to the throne in 1628 after a long and violent succession struggle. In 1612, while still a prince, he married Arjumand Banu Begum, the niece of his father Jahangir’s favourite queen Nur Jahan. The two had been betrothed some years earlier, when she was about fourteen.

Court writers of the time describe the marriage as unusually close. Arjumand went with Shah Jahan on his military campaigns, including hard monsoon marches in the Deccan, and bore him fourteen children. In 1631, in the imperial camp at Burhanpur, she died giving birth to the fourteenth. She was thirty eight.

The chroniclers say Shah Jahan’s beard turned white within weeks of her death. She is remembered by her title, Mumtaz Mahal, usually translated as “the chosen one of the palace”, and the tomb he built for her is the Taj Mahal.

How the site on the Yamuna was chosen

Shah Jahan picked a spot on the south bank of the Yamuna in Agra. The land belonged to Raja Jai Singh I of Amber, and the emperor gave him a large mansion in the city in exchange. Work began in 1632.

The riverside site had practical advantages. The river acts as a backdrop and reflecting surface when you look at the tomb from the far bank, and engineers have long suggested that the steady groundwater of the riverbank helped the deep foundations carry the weight of the marble complex.

How long did it take to build the Taj Mahal?

The architect most often named is Ustad Ahmad Lahori, who rose through the Mughal building department and came from a family of Persian descent. Later accounts describe a council of thirty seven master craftsmen working under him, with specialists from Persia, Central Asia, the Ottoman lands and Europe. Among the names that have come down to us are Amanat Khan Shirazi, the calligrapher, Chiranjilal, the chief sculptor, and Mir Abdul Karim, who supervised the masonry.

About twenty thousand workers were on site at any one time. The inlay stones came from much further away than the marble: lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, turquoise from Tibet, jade from China, sapphire from Sri Lanka and carnelian from Arabia. Tradition counts twenty eight kinds of stone in all, set into the marble by a method called pietra dura, in which each piece is cut to shape and fitted into a groove in the surface.

The main mausoleum was finished in 1648. The mosque, the guest house, the gateway and the gardens took another five years, and the whole complex was complete in 1653.

Taj Mahal architecture: what to look for

The complex covers about 42 acres. The tomb stands on a raised marble platform roughly 300 feet long, with a minaret about 40 metres tall at each corner. Look closely and you will see the minarets lean very slightly outward, a precaution so that in an earthquake they would fall away from the dome rather than onto it.

In front of the tomb lies a charbagh, a garden divided into four by water channels that stand for the four rivers of Paradise in the Quran. On the west side of the tomb is a red sandstone mosque. On the east side is a matching building, the mihman khana or guest house, which exists mainly to balance the mosque.

The main dome rises about 35 metres above the tomb and is a double dome. An inner shell gives the chamber below a sensible ceiling height, while the taller outer shell creates the shape you see from outside. Builders in Persia and Central Asia had used this method before, and Mughal architects had tried it at Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi.

Inside the mausoleum

The main chamber holds two cenotaphs, one for Mumtaz and one for Shah Jahan. These are not the actual graves. The real burials lie in a plainer crypt directly below. The cenotaphs are surrounded by a carved marble screen, and early accounts say the chamber was once fitted with pearls and gold that were looted long ago.

The walls are covered with pietra dura flowers and with verses from the Quran in black marble, laid out by Amanat Khan Shirazi. He signed his work inside the mausoleum, one of the very few personal marks any of the builders left behind. Notice also how the letters grow larger as they rise up the walls, so that from the floor the text appears to be the same size from top to bottom.

What happened to Shah Jahan after the Taj was built?

The story did not end with the last coat of polish. In 1658, five years after the complex was completed, Shah Jahan fell seriously ill and his four sons began fighting for the throne. The third son, Aurangzeb, defeated his brothers, had two of them killed and placed his father under house arrest in the Agra Fort.

Shah Jahan spent his last eight years there. From the fort, across a bend of the Yamuna, the Taj is clearly visible, and tradition says he spent his days looking at it. He died in 1666 and Aurangzeb had him buried beside Mumtaz. His cenotaph, placed off-centre next to hers, is the one asymmetrical element in an otherwise symmetrical building.

Why does the Taj Mahal change colour?

Makrana marble is slightly translucent, so light enters the surface and glows back out. At dawn the Taj often looks pink. At noon it turns a hard, bright white, and at sunset it goes gold. On full moon nights, when the Archaeological Survey of India allows limited entry, it takes on a silvery blue tone.

UNESCO status and conservation

The Taj Mahal was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, described as “the jewel of Muslim art in India”. It draws millions of visitors a year, with figures of around eight million often quoted.

Pollution has been the main worry for decades. Emissions from Mathura and Agra have slowly turned parts of the marble yellow. In 1996 the Supreme Court of India ordered a vehicle-free zone of 500 metres around the monument, which is why you will be dropped at a parking area and taken the last stretch by battery bus or on foot. The ASI also treats the marble every few years with a clay mud pack that draws out the stains.

How to visit the Taj Mahal

The best months are October to March, when the weather is cool and the air is clearer. Go at sunrise if you can: the marble looks its best and the crowds are thinnest. The monument is closed on Fridays, when the mosque is used for noon prayers.

Night viewing is offered on the full moon night and the two nights on either side of it. Tickets are limited and have to be booked in advance through the ASI, so check the current dates and rules before you plan around it.

Agra is easy to reach from Delhi. By car, the Yamuna Expressway takes around three hours. The Gatimaan Express train is the fastest rail option, taking under two hours. If you have time after the Taj, go to Mehtab Bagh on the opposite bank at sunset for the view Shah Jahan’s builders planned from across the river.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Taj Mahal made of?

The tomb is built of white Makrana marble from Rajasthan, over a brick core, and inlaid with semi-precious stones. The mosque and guest house are mainly red sandstone.

Can you see the real graves of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal?

Ordinary visitors see only the cenotaphs in the main chamber. The crypt with the actual graves lies directly below and is generally closed to the public.

Is the Taj Mahal open every day?

No. It is closed on Fridays for prayers at the mosque. On other days it opens from sunrise to sunset.

Sources and Further Reading

Archaeological Survey of India website (asi.nic.in), Taj Mahal page
UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Taj Mahal listing and nomination file, 1983
Ebba Koch, The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra, Thames and Hudson
Diana Preston and Michael Preston, Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire, Walker and Company