Time never diminished the love between the emperor and his wife.
Arguably the world’s most beautiful and love-inspired building, the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal for his 3rd wife who died during the birth of their 14th child.
Stricken with grief, the emperor commissioned the mausoleum in 1632 and reached completion 21-years later. Shah Jahan described the Taj:
Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator’s glory.
~ Sha Jahan
Shortly after the Taj’s completion, the Shah was deposed by his son and – the legend says – he ended his days locked in the nearby Agra Fortress gazing at the symbol of his love.
(Look familiar but not quite sure to what? A few months ago, I posted images of Bangladesh’s imitation Taj the Taz Mahal. Check out photos here.)
