Agra Taj Mahal

About the Taj Mahal

Agra is a historic city in Uttar Pradesh, India, home to the magnificent Taj Mahal - one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This stunning white marble mausoleum, built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, represents the pinnacle of Mughal architecture and is a symbol of eternal love.

Commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1632 as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631 after childbirth, the white marble tomb on the Yamuna's right bank took roughly two decades to complete, with the main structure finished around 1643 and the wider complex by about 1653. Shah Jahan himself was buried there after his death in 1666. The monument was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983 and now anchors Agra's tourism economy, drawing millions of visitors a year and shaping local employment, crafts and conservation policy. The often-repeated story that Shah Jahan had the builders' hands cut off is legend, not documented history.