the.com/taj mahal
A white marble mausoleum in Agra, India, built by an emperor to honor his beloved wife.
means A massive white marble mausoleum in Agra, India, built to entomb a beloved wife — now shorthand for any extravagant monument to love.
from Commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the 1600s after his wife Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth, the name combines 'Taj' (crown) with a shortened form of her title 'Mahal' (palace) — so the building's name literally echoes the woman it was built to honor, crowning her memory in stone.
- death toll
- legend says builders' hands were cut off after
- color trick
- marble shifts pink, white, gold with the sun
- symmetry flaw
- the only asymmetric element is Shah Jahan's own tomb
- material haul
- took 1,000 elephants to haul the marble