Commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj Mahal stands on the bank of the Yamuna River in Agra. Shah Jahan himself was later buried beside her. The mausoleum was finished in 1648, and the whole complex around 1653.
It is built of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, while the mosque and guesthouse around it are of red sandstone. Everything is arranged in strict symmetry: the domed tomb rises from a raised platform with four minarets, each over 130 feet tall, one at every corner, and the complex is set in formal gardens enclosed by walls. More than 20,000 workers and craftsmen built it.
It blends Indo-Islamic and Mughal traditions and is regarded as one of the greatest works of Mughal architecture. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
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