- Built by the fifth mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, as a tribute to his late wife, Mumtaz Mahal. They met in the bazaar inside the Agra Fort when he was Prince Khurram and she was Arjumand Bono. He went on to marry two princesses, whom he had no children with. He then asked for permission (again) to marry Arjumand and it was granted.
- It is said that they were inseparable. She died on one expedition with him when developing complications during the birth of their fourteenth child in 1631.
- The Shah Jahan grieved from the Agra Fort, from where he decided to build a monument of love that would stun the world.
- It is believed that 20,000 workers consisting of labourers, carpenters, craftsmen, artists and engineer toiled for almost 22 years to bring the whole project to completion.
- "The whole complex was designed proportionally according to geometrical grids which explains the perfect balance of not just the tomb but the entire complex" says Catherine B. Asher, an art historian.
- The Taj Mahal soars to a height of 74.21 meters (243-1/2 feet) and the width is just 17 meters less.
We went to the red sandstone mosque that sits to the left of the Taj Mahal (there is an exact building replica to the right for asthetic balance purposes and is a guest house called The Mehmankhana):
The video of the river was better than a photo:
Different times of the day create different effects on the marble due to the sun:
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