Taj Mahal at Dawn: India's Monument to Eternal Love

The Taj Mahal was built between 1632 and 1653 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth in 1631. Shah Jahan was so devastated by her death that his hair reportedly turned white overnight, and the monument he built for her — a complex of white marble, red sandstone, and precious stones on the banks of the Yamuna River in Agra — is widely regarded as the greatest architectural achievement of the Mughal Empire and one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

The white marble of the Taj Mahal is inlaid with semi-precious stones — lapis lazuli, jade, crystal, turquoise, and coral — in floral and geometric patterns of extraordinary delicacy. The calligraphy that frames the main entrance and the four smaller arches is inlaid in black marble and was designed to appear the same size from the ground regardless of its height on the wall — an optical illusion achieved by making the letters progressively larger as they ascend. The four minarets at the corners of the platform lean slightly outward, so that in the event of an earthquake they would fall away from the main tomb rather than onto it.

The best time to visit the Taj Mahal is at dawn, when the first light turns the white marble pink and the complex is at its least crowded. The reflecting pool in the formal garden — the Hauz-i-Kausar — mirrors the main dome and the minarets in the still water of the early morning, creating the image that has been reproduced on a million postcards. The garden itself, divided into four quadrants by water channels in the traditional Persian charbagh design, is planted with cypress trees and flowering plants that were originally chosen to represent paradise.

The interior of the Taj Mahal is more intimate than the exterior suggests — the central chamber contains the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan (the actual tombs are in a crypt below), surrounded by an octagonal screen of white marble carved into a lattice of extraordinary fineness. The chamber is lit by natural light filtered through the marble screen, and the effect — the soft light, the inlaid flowers, the silence — is one of the most moving interior spaces in the world. Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb in 1658 and spent the last eight years of his life imprisoned in the Agra Fort, from which he could see the Taj Mahal across the river.

Agra Fort, two kilometres from the Taj Mahal, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its own right — a massive red sandstone fortification built by the Emperor Akbar in 1565 and expanded by his successors. The fort contains a series of palaces, mosques, and audience halls that document the evolution of Mughal architecture from the austere military style of Akbar to the refined elegance of Shah Jahan. The Musamman Burj, the octagonal tower where Shah Jahan was imprisoned, has a window that looks directly toward the Taj Mahal — a view that the deposed emperor is said to have contemplated until his death.

The city of Agra, which grew up around the Mughal court, is a chaotic and often overwhelming place — the traffic, the pollution, and the aggressive touts around the Taj Mahal can make the experience of visiting the monument more stressful than it should be. The best strategy is to arrive at the east or west gate (rather than the main south gate, which is the most crowded) as soon as it opens at sunrise, spend the first hour in relative peace, and leave before the tour groups arrive from Delhi. The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays.

The best time to visit Agra is from October to March, during the cool season, when the temperatures are comfortable and the air quality is at its best. The summer months from April to June are extremely hot — temperatures regularly exceed 45 degrees Celsius — and the monsoon season from July to September brings high humidity and reduced visibility. The Taj Mahal is particularly beautiful in the monsoon, when the surrounding gardens are lush and green and the light is soft and diffuse, but the heat and humidity make it physically demanding. The full moon nights, when the Taj Mahal is open for night viewing, offer a magical experience that is quite different from the daytime visit.