The Taj Mahal is the masterpiece of Mughal art and one of the most famous buildings in the world. Yet until now, there has been no full analysis of its architecture and meaning. The lost world of the Agra gardens and the greatest monument to love ever built, are recreated here through superb scholarship and evocative illustrations. Ebba Koch 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. Here, in hundreds of new photographs and drawings, she provides the first detailed documentation ever published on every building in the vast complex. She leads the reader on a walk that illuminates not only the white marble mausoleum but the mosque and guesthouse that flank it, through the entire complex of the Taj Mahal, with an explanation of each building, revealing not only the mausoleum but the mosque and guest house that flank it, the garden, the great gate, the forecourt, the quarters of the tomb attendants and the now almost completely lost bazaar and caravanserai complex. She gives special attention to the floral ornamentation - both the famous pietre dure inlay in white marble and the rich relief carving in marble and red sandstone. Reconstructions allow us to see the monument in the context of Shah Jahan's Agra, and the author explains its design and construction, its symbolic meaning and its history up to the present day.

Author Biography

Ebba Koch has spent much of her professional life studying the architecture, art and culture of the Mughal Empire, and is considered a leading authority on Mughal architecture. In 2001 she became the architectural advisor to the Taj Mahal Conservation Collaborative.