Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Agra, in Uttar Pradesh state, is the home of the Taj Mahal. It was, with Delhi, one of the capitals of the Mughal empire. The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan, the 5^th of the Great Mughals, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal (Jewel of the Palace), who died during the birth of her 14^th child aged 39. It was completed in 1654.

The tomb itself is made out of white marble, with 2 identical red sandstone buildings on either side- a mosque on the west and the Jawab (or answer) on the other side for symmetry, which could not be used as a mosque as it faces away from Mecca.

It was thought that Shah Jahan originally intended to build his own tomb on the opposite side of the Yamuna River in black marble, with a bridge made of alternating white and black marble blocks connecting the two. However, he ended up being buried, after spending his last days a prisoner of his son Aurangzeb, in the Taj Mahal as well.