In the world, there are a great many masterpieces of architecture dedicated to a great many different things – some structures are built out of religious reverence and fervor, whereas others are built of military necessity or the need for protection from invasion, and many of these are built out of a desire to make a grand show of the influence of a particular ruling class or empire. And then, on a rare basis, there is a grand monument built to a different kind of fervor – the impetus of human love. If we are to study the grand monuments of the world, then we must land ourselves in the Mughal Empire during the reign of Shah Jahan, in the early-to-mid 1600’s, A.D.; it was this emperor who spared no expense to have a grand tomb built to him and his beloved favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, or “Jewel of the Palace,” who had died in the birthing of their fourteenth child. (Lal) Such is the story of the Taj Mahal, a jewel on the Southern bank of the Yamuna River. The Taj is an incredibly important monument now and into the future for a multiplicity of reasons – especially that it is representative of, and the pinnacle of, Mughal and Persian architecture, and it is also arguably one of the most staggering and well-known testaments to love in the history of mankind, and, finally, because it is nigh-inseparable from the self-image of the entire nation of India.

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The Taj Mahal, initially called Rauza-I Munavvara "The Illumined Tomb" for its lustrous white marble, later Rauza-I Mumtaj Mahal, shortened in English to Taj Mahal, (Ching, Jarzombek and Prakash, 507) is a lustrous white marble tomb located near Agra, in modern-day India. It was commissioned and built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who also is said to have worked as its chief architect, overseeing specialists from all over South Asia and, reportedly, 20,000 laborers.  (Ching, Jarzombek and Prakash, 507) The project was initiated in 1632 AD, and finished in 1648.  (UNESCO)

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The Taj is a magnificent white tomb that sits on a rectangular plot of land near Agra, in modern-day India. The mausoleum itself faces the Yamuna River, from which emperors and other people of importance would have approached it - however, its land-facing facade has become the most common way of imaging it. The back of the white marble mausoleum faces a large garden with a long rectangular pool, and has on its west side a tomb-mosque and on its right side a guest quarters. The mausoleum and guest quarters are raised from the garden by the step, and the mausoleum is raised by an additional large square step with minarets on each corner. On the side of the garden opposite the mausoleum, there stands a stone gateway, in front of which is an entry court.

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The inside of the mausoleum consists of an octagonal chamber in which two fake tombs - that of Shah Jahan and that of Mumtaz Mahal - are placed within view. Each side of the octagonal room has a hallway that leads outside or to another octagonal room, and the smaller octagonal rooms contain hallways which lead to the outside of the structure or to one another, allowing for viewers to walk around the central room in a larger square hallway. The center dome rises high above the central room, making it the undisputed focal point of the architecture. (Ching, Jarzombek and Prakash, 507 - 508)

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The Mughal emperors of the height of Mughal power were known for being religiously tolerant, and Shah Jahan was himself the third and final of such emperors to exist during this era. He was known to be the most religiously conservative of the three emperors, and was himself a Muslim, but 85% of his subjects were Hindu. He was also known for his extravagance, often to the point of irresponsibility. The Mughal emperors had large harems, which were composed, especially initially, of princesses in diplomatic marriages. (Chua, 184-188) It is likely that the tolerance and grand variety in the Mughal Empire contributed to the variety of regional and religious design philosophies in the Taj Mahal, which were primarily a synthesis of Indian and Persian styles, as well as a hybrid of Hindu and Muslim motifs. (Ching, Jarzombek and Prakash, 507)

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The Taj Mahal was itself principally guided by earlier works in the Indian subcontinent, and is quite representative of architecture throughout the region as well as the Middle East. In fact, arguably the most major influence on the design of the Taj Mahal was Humanyun's tomb, which is located in Delhi, but was designed by a Persian architect. Humanyun's tomb and the mausoleum at Taj Mahal are structurally very similar and were only built 50 years apart. (Ching, Jarzombek and Prakash, 503)

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The thing that separates the Taj Mahal from other buildings in the region is its exceptional use of the space in which it is put. The tomb expresses the power and glamor of Shah Jahan with its building materials from the far reaches of the Mughal Empire and its surroundings, and the skill of the tomb is of a similar caliber, calling upon architects and tradesmen of excellent quality from great distances.

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The tomb separates itself from Humanyun's tomb by making better use of the inward and outward spaces and placements of the mausoleum and its rooms, creating a more aesthetically unified and memorable space. Humanyun's tomb sits at the center of a large square plot, and is itself square in shape. The side rooms of the tomb are large, giving the tomb a squat look and causing the side rooms to compete with the dome for attention, whereas the Taj has a much greater vertical focus, and everything around and on the mausoleum at the Taj Mahal is structured such that it leads the eyes toward the top of the dome. Additionally, the Taj sits on the Northern end of a rectangular plot, giving a better sense of scale and hierarchy. (Ching, Jarzombek and Prakash, 503-509)

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Little is actually known of the reception of the Taj Mahal shortly after it was built; despite its fame as a cultural symbol representative of the entire Indian subcontinent, no cultural or political interpretation of the tomb has ever been attempted. It has been noted, however, that a large number of serfs labored to complete the complex over the course of its building, and they were likely not treated well. (Lal)

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Modernly, the Taj Mahal is arguably the most well-known piece of architecture in all South Asia, having been described by Rabindranath Tagore as "a tear on the face of eternity"(Lal) and now being almost inseparable from India's self-image as a nation. It is known to many as a symbol of love, and is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. These things together make the Taj Mahal "one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."(UNESCO)

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Even apart from the excellence in the design and layout of the Taj, its story is still more striking and meaningful. The Taj was not built out of any small sense of grief - indeed, Mumtaz Mahal was the name given to the Emperor's favorite wife, and means "Jewel of the Palace." The palace grieved for two years after her death, and Shah Jahan is said to have been so stricken with grief, indeed, that he considered abdicating the throne to one of his sons. (Lal) There is little doubt that the tomb, as beautiful as it is, would be nowhere near as famous or mystifying were it not for the story associated with it.

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<p align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Works Cited</span></p>
Ching, Francis, Mark Jarzombek, and Vikramaditya Prakash. <i>A Global History Of Architecture</i>. 2nd Edition. Canada: John Wiley &amp; Sons Inc., 2011. Print.

A large book of architecture from all over the world – used to provide general physical information regarding Humanyun’s Tomb and the Taj Mahal

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Chua, Amy. <i>Day Of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise To Global Dominance - And Why They Fall</i>. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 2007. Print.

A book relating the history of various major empires of the world – used to provide general historical information regarding the Moghul Empire

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Lal, Vinay. "Taj Mahal." <i>Manas</i>. UCLA, n. d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.vLal, Vinay.

An academic blog post by Vinay Lal, who has a Ph.D. from the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at UCLA and a prolific writer regarding South Asian studies – the blog was used to help understand the reception and context surrounding the Taj Mahal

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"Taj Mahal." <i>UNESCO</i>. UNESCO. Web. 12 Oct 2013.

The UNESCO Taj Mahal article, used for general Taj Mahal information and research of current heritage preservation efforts.