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Few monuments reduce such a high proportion of visitors to tears, but the Taj Mahal, the world's greatest monument dedicated to love, may just do that to you. It's such a famous monument that many visitors feel they know it before they arrive, but its sheer beauty, intricacy and detail are awe inspiring. Set on the banks of the Yamuna River at Agra, the Taj Mahal gazes out over the river towards Agra Fort. The Taj Mahal was built as a monument for the wife of Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal, showing his love for her after her death at the age of 39. The Shah turned away from running his Mughal empire at a time when it was already in decline, and many suggest that the exorbitant cost of the Taj Mahal itself was the final nail in the coffin of the Empire.
 There are many facts - and non-facts - surrounding the Taj Mahal, so when you visit (put it on your 'must see' list today if you haven't already) take some on board and take others with a pinch of salt. It's said that the Emperor ordered the right hand of the chief mason to be cut off, so he couldn't build anything similar in the future. Another legend says that he intended to build a replica of the Taj Mahal on the opposite bank of the river for himself, but in black marble, with a black and white bridge connecting the two. More statistically-based, it's said that the monument took 22 years and 20,000 labourers to complete, and the white marble was brought from Jodhpur by a fleet of 1000 elephants. Regardless of what you believe and what you don't, the end product is truly mesmerizing.
It's important to visit the Taj Mahal at different times of day, as the sunlight causes dramatic variations in lighting and atmosphere. Even on a dull day the white marble seems to glow, and at sunrise on a clear day it's really incredible. At certain times of year it's even possible to visit under moonlight.
At the heart of the complex is the tomb, with a minaret on each corner towering over 40 metres high and slanting outwards by up to 20 cm, to ensure that, if the tomb was hit by an earthquake, the minarets would fall outwards rather than on to the tomb itself. There's just one entrance to the plinth, each side of which is over 55 metres long. The interior of the tomb has a lofty central chamber, with intricate carvings surrounding the replica tombs. The tomb of Mumtaz herself sits under the main dome.
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