Nothing can put it into words - it is simply the most beautiful piece of artwork I have ever seen. Constructed out of a nearly translucent white marble, all of the decorations are not painted (even though they appear to be frescos), rather they are inlaid with precious and semi precious jewels. It was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the mid 17th century to memorialize his favorite wife who died during her 14th childbirth. The structure took just 22 years to construct by an estimated 20,000 workers.
The builders used geometric principles to create significant illusary features of the building - the horizon is line is low to create a nearly completely blue sky backdrop to the Taj, inscriptions of the Koran are increased in size as they climb higher away from the viewer with precise rations to eliminate the reduction in text size, etc, etc.
The Taj Mahal is flanked on the east and west by mosques (majhid), however since all mosques must face the East towards Mecca, the second "faux" mosque exists only to maintain perfect symmetry. The Taj is identical when viewed from all four sides. The four minarets are angled slightly away from the main structure to improve it's impressive appeal, as well as for safety in case the minarets were to fall.
Since I could not fit all the pictures reasonably onto this entry, I've linked to a web slideshow (courtesy of Flickr). Click below and you can also click on the center info button to get more info on each image.
URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43788174@N00/sets/72157601608978740/show/
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