 The Taj Mahal is the most famous example of Mughal architecture and it is visited by up to 8 million people every year. It is considered by many to be a new wonder of the world and for good reason everything from the white ivory marble to the intricate calligraphy tells the visitor that it is nothing short of a piece of art. To begin with it was commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who ordered it built in 1632 a year after his wife Mumtaz Mahal had died. So it's quite clearly a symbolic commemoration of her death which is said to have grieved the Mughal emperor deeply. Under the instruction of Ustad Ahmad Lohari who was the chief architect it is said that more than 20,000 workers from across India, Persia, the Ottoman Empire and even Europe were employed to construct the Taj Mahal for a period of 22 years. This included calligraphers and 1,000 elephants had to be used to carry materials and of course no self-respecting piece of Islamic architecture could be complete without gardens so plenty of horticulturalists were employed as well. Considering the Taj Mahal was built to remember Mumtaz Mahal people have taken that and ran with it and stretched the truth to fit romantic ideas. One of which talks about Shah Jahan's desire to keep the Muslim a unique masterpiece. In order to ensure this it is said that he cut the hands and gouge the eyes of all the artisans that were involved in constructing the Taj Mahal just so he could ensure that another one would not be built like it. Obviously this makes for a very cool story but there is no evidence to suggest that this actually took place. On the contrary historians have found Shah Jahan to have been far more ruthless than he was romantic. So as much as the Taj Mahal has a place in history for being a symbol of love and devotion to a man's wife it is undoubtedly also a symbol of absolute power of the Mughal dynasty. The extravagant attempt to build something perfect architecturally speaking in terms of its symmetry can be regarded as a source of propaganda that would be fit a man who named himself Shah Jahan meaning king of the world. As you can see in that picture he is standing on top of the globe in order to denote his ascendancy over everybody else. But whilst cheesy myths are not well rooted in the truth the Taj Mahal still has a bag of tricks that will leave you in awe and amazement. For example the four surrounding minarets look like they are upright from far away but they actually lean outward. As well as being a cool trick of the eye this would ensure that the minarets would crumble away from the main tomb in case of an earthquake which was a real architectural consideration in this period. The architect's mastery of proportion doesn't end here. From the main gate the Taj Mahal looks close and large but the nearer you get the smaller it becomes. You think that's impressive? Check this out the Taj Mahal is like a chameleon it can change its colors well at least a hue of the color thanks largely to the sun it can appear orange bronze when the sun sets blue at night and pink and gray during sunrise. The famous poet Rabindranath Tagore called the Taj Mahal a tear suspended on the cheek of time. As a fan of architecture I can't help but appreciate the symmetrical beauty of this timeless monument.