Taj Mahal Vacation

It's Entrance
The walled complex is approached from the south through a red sandstone forecourt, Chowk-i Jilo Khana, whose wide paths, flanked by arched kiosks, run to high gates in the east and west. The original entrance, a massive arched gateway topped with delicate domes and adorned with Koranic verses, stands at the northern edge of Chowk-i Jilo Khana, and acts as a shield.

Taj structure
Essentially square in shape, with peaked arches cut into its sides, the Taj Mahal surmounts a square marble platform marked at each corner by a high minaret. Topped with a huge central dome, its height is accentuated by a crowning brass spire. Inside is a high, echoing octagonal chamber flushed with pallid light reflected by yellowing marble surfaces. The marble screen is cut so finely that it seems almost translucent. Decorated with precious stones, it scatters dappled light over the cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal in the centre of the tomb, and that of Shah Jahan next to it.

Taj Garden
A green carpet of garden runs from the main gateway to the foot of the Taj. In essence, it is a Persian garden, a from born and nursed to maturity in the desert flat of Persia. Landscape artists at the Taj attempted to translate the perfection of heaven into terrestrial terms by following certain formulas. In Islam, four is the holiest of all numbers - most arrangements of the Taj are based on that number or its multiples - and the gardens were thus laid out in the quadrate plan. A clear, unobstructed view of the mausoleum is available from any spot in the garden.