Taj Mahal

Lonely Planet review

Described as the most extravagant monument ever built for love, this sublime Mughal mausoleum is India's most ogled icon. Many have tried to sum up its beauty - 'a teardrop on the face of eternity' according to Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, 'the embodiment of all things pure' according to British writer Rudyard Kipling. As an architectural masterpiece it stands alone.

The Taj was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. The death of Mumtaz left the emperor so heartbroken that his hair is said to have turned grey virtually overnight. Construction of the Taj began in the same year and was not completed until 1653 - although there's some debate as to the exact date of completion. Not long after it was finished, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb and imprisoned in Agra Fort where, for the rest of his days, he could only gaze out at his creation through a window. Following his death in 1666, Shah Jahan was buried here alongside Mumtaz.

In total, some 20,000 people from India and Central Asia worked on the building. Specialists were brought in from as far afield as Europe to produce the exquisite marble screens and pietra dura (marble inlay work) made with thousands of semiprecious stones. A popular story that Shah Jahan had intended to construct an identical Taj in black marble as a tomb for himself on the opposite bank of the Yamuna - creating a mirror image in negative - is probably too fanciful to be true. Local guides are fond of saying this was part of the reason Aurangzeb threw him in jail - the Mughal empire couldn't afford his grandiose plans!

The spectacular mausoleum was designated a World Heritage site in 1983 and looks as immaculate today as when it was first constructed - though it underwent a huge restoration project in the early 20th century after falling into disrepair and even suffering vandalism. In recent times the threat of damage has come from atmospheric pollution. Acid rain, produced by sulphur dioxide from vehicle and industrial emissions, began to discolour the famous white marble and erode the fine carving and inlays. In an attempt to reduce pollution, new industrial developments in Agra were banned in 1994, and only nonpolluting vehicles are allowed within 500m of the Taj.

The labourers and artisans who toiled on the Taj set up home immediately south of the mausoleum, creating the congested network of alleys known as Taj Ganj, now a popular area for budget travellers.

Two tickets are issued to visit some of Agra's mains sights: the Agra Development Association (ADA) ticket is valid for the Taj, Agra Fort, Akbar's Mausoleum, Itmad-ud-Daula and Fatehpur Sikri for one day, so hang on to it. The separate Archeaological Survey of India (ASI) ticket must be purchased for each of these sights. Both these tickets are only available from the sites themselves. Children under 15 get in free to all monuments.

The south gate is the main access and easiest to reach from Taj Ganj, while the east gate generally has the shortest queues. The west gate can get very crowded with tour groups coming from Agra Fort. There are separate queues for men and women. Prohibited items such as food, tobacco, matches, mobile phones and camera tripods can be left without charge in cloakrooms. Cameras and videos are permitted, but you cannot take photographs of the tombs inside the mausoleum, and areas where you can take your video camera are limited. From the south gate, entry to the inner compound is through a 30m red sandstone gateway on the south side of the forecourt, which is inscribed with verses from the Quran.

The Taj Mahal itself stands on a raised marble platform at the northern end of the ornamental gardens, with its back to the Yamuna River. Its raised position means that the backdrop is only sky - a master stroke of design. Purely decorative 40m-high white minarets grace each corner of the platform. After more than three centuries they are not quite perpendicular, but they may have been designed to lean slightly outwards so that in the event of an earthquake, they would fall away from the precious Taj. The red sandstone mosque to the west of the main structure is an important gathering place for Agra's Muslims. The identical building to the east, the jawab, was built for symmetry and was probably used as accommodation for travellers.

The central Taj structure is made of semitranslucent white marble, carved with flowers and inlaid with thousands of semiprecious stones in beautiful patterns. A perfect exercise in symmetry, the four identical faces of the Taj feature impressive vaulted arches embellished with pietra dura (marble inlay) scrollwork and quotations from the Quran, produced in a style of calligraphy using inlaid jasper. The whole structure is topped off by four small domes surrounding the famous bulbous central dome.

Below the main dome is the Cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal, an elaborate false tomb surrounded by an exquisite perforated marble screen inlaid with some 43 different types of semiprecious stones. Beside it, offsetting the symmetry of the Taj, is the Cenotaph of Shah Jahan, who was interred here with little ceremony by his usurping son Aurangzeb in 1666. Light is admitted into the central chamber by finely cut marble screens. The real tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan are in a locked basement room below the main chamber and cannot be viewed.

On the western side of the gardens is a very small museum, housing original architectural drawings of the Taj and some nifty celadon plates, said to split into pieces or change colour if the food served on them contains poison.

With the relatively high entry fee discouraging repeat visits, a big decision for many travellers is exactly when to visit the Taj. Most people want to avoid the worst of the crowds, or the heat of the day, or choose the best time for photography. If you're an early riser, sunrise offers the best of all worlds. It's a magical time when the air is cool and the morning light spreads across the Taj, turning it from dark purple to pale blue and finally a golden glow. Tour groups generally don't start arriving till 09:00 . Sunset also provides a beautiful, softer light - arrive at least an hour or two before sunset to soak up the atmosphere. Don't discount the middle of the day - especially if you take a book and relax in the shady archways or gardens for a while.

Finally, moonlight viewings are possible for five nights either side of each full moon (except on a Friday) - but with plenty of security restrictions. A maximum of 400 visitors are allowed in groups of 50. Each group stays only 30 minutes between 20:30 and 00:30 and must stand some distance away from the Taj itself. Visitors are subject to strict security checks. Cameras are allowed but not video cameras and there are no refunds if clouds cover the moon. Tickets (Indian/foreigner Rs 510/750) must be bought at least 24 hours in advance only from the Archaeological Survey of India Office (2227263). You can get current information and full moon dates up to 2010 on the UP Tourism website (www.up-tourism.com). Considering all this, a better place to see the Taj by moonlight is probably the rooftop restaurant of one of the Taj Ganj guesthouses such as Shanti or Kamal.