The Taj Mahal Explained

Shah Jahan commissioned the Taj Mahal in 1631. He was the fifth Mughal emperor.

Shah Jahan built the complex for his wife Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb. The 17-hectare site includes a mosque and guest house.

Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1648. More than 20,000 workers built it under Ustad Ahmad Lahori.

The central dome is 23 metres high. It sits on a cylindrical drum with an inner diameter of 18.4 metres.

Gateway arches feature Arabic calligraphy. It is made of jasper or black marble inlaid in white panels.

The Taj Mahal is made of luminous white stone.

The Taj Mahal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It attracts over 5 million visitors yearly.

The project cost around 32 million rupees then. In 2015 that equalled approximately 52.8 billion rupees. That is a steep exchange rate.