Taj Mahal (Taj Mahal) is the most famous building in the world born of love. The mausoleum in Agra was built of white marble by the Emperor Shah Jahan to immortalize the memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Work began in 1632 and was completed in 1648.
A 30-meter long red sandstone entrance gate leads to the mausoleum. The central building of Taj Mahal, with a more than 30-meter-high façade, stands on a double platform - the lower of red sandstone, the higher of white marble. It is crowned with a 26-meter dome. In the 4 corners of the platform, 41-meter minarets rise up, slightly outwardly bending the mausoleum during the earthquake. The facades are inlaid with agates, marble flowers and verses from the Koran, carved by the Persian artist Amant Khan Shirazi.
The interior of Taj Mahal was decorated with emeralds, looted by Englishmen. In the funerary niche, under the dome, there is the sarcophagus of Mumtaz Mahal, and next to him the larger Shah Jahana, placed in the mausoleum by his son Aurangzeba. The sarcophagi are separated by a balustrade, originally made of gold, inlaid with sapphires and diamonds, replaced by Aurangzeba (who needed money to suppress the rebellion in the Mughal empire) with a marble, richly ornamented openwork.
