Taj Mahal, India

The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum in Agra, India, on the right bank of the Yamuna River. It was built in 1632 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to contain the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, his favorite wife, as well as Shah Jahan's own mausoleum. The tomb is placed in formal gardens surrounded on three sides by a crenelated wall, and is the centerpiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex that includes a mosque and a guest house.

The mausoleum was substantially finished in 1643, but work on other aspects of the project proceeded for another ten years. The Taj Mahal complex is thought to have been finished in its entirety in 1653 at a cost of around 32 million pounds, which would be around 70 billion pounds in 2020 (around $1 billion). 20,000 artisans worked on the project, which was overseen by a board of architects chaired by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, the emperor's court architect. The Taj has used various sorts of symbolism to depict natural beauty and divinity.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for being "India's jewel of Muslim art and one of the world's most universally admired masterpieces." Many consider it to be the finest example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's long history. The Taj Mahal has over 6 million tourists each year and was named one of the New 7 Wonders of the World (2000–2007) initiative winners in 2007.

Location: Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India