Taj Mahal

Location: Uttar Pradesh, Agra Date of Inscription: 1983

The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River, in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Its construction began in 1632 AD and was completed in 1648 AD. The mosque, the guest house and the main gateway on the south, the outer courtyard and its cloisters were added subsequently and completed in 1653 AD. For its construction, masons, stone-cutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from the Central Asia and Iran. Ustad-Ahmad Lahori was the main architect of the Taj Mahal. The existence of several historical and Quranic inscriptions in Arabic script have facilitated the understanding of the arrangement of events in the history of Taj Mahal.