Taj Mahal, India
| Location: | On the banks of river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Year of Construction: | 1631- 1653 |
| Built By: | Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan |
| Spread Over: | 42 acres |
| Significance: | One of the Seven Wonders of the World |
The Taj Mahal is the epitome of Mughal art and one of the most famous buildings in the world. Yet there have been few serious studies of it and no full analysis of its architecture and meaning. Ebba Koch, an important scholar, has been permitted to take measurements of the complex and has been working on the palaces and gardens of Shah Jahan for thirty years and on the Taj Mahal itself—the tomb of the emperor's wife, Mumtaz Mahal—for a decade.
The tomb is the representation of the house of the queen in Paradise, and its setting was based on the palace gardens of the great nobles that lined both sides of the river at Agra India. You will explore the entire complex of the Taj Mahal with an explanation of each building and an account of the mausoleum's urban setting, its design and construction, its symbolic meaning, and its history up to the present day.
