The Taj Mahal is, simply, as breathtaking as the stories say. India’s most iconic building, a monument to love, and mausoleum to a favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is built entirely from white marble, its exquisite symmetry mirrored only by the reflecting pool that runs down the centre of its gardens. It was built by Shah Jahan for his third wife Mumtaz Mahal who used a purported 20,000 stone carvers, masons and artists. Striking as it is from a distance the building’s beauty is also in its detail – semiprecious stones, intricate carvings and calligraphic verses from the Koran grace the main mausoleum. Shah Jahan, imprisoned by his son just down the river in Agra Fort, lived out his days with a view of the Taj Mahal before he himself was interred inside with his wife.