Introduction : the Mughal dynasty, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal -- I. Mughal Agra, a riverfront garden city -- The Mughal garden, its buildings and its ownership -- The riverfront garden city -- Reconstruction of the riverfront scheme -- The gardens of the left bank -- The gardens of the right bank -- II. The construction of the Taj Mahal -- Shah Jahan and architecture -- Imperial mausoleums, a 'built tomb' controversy -- The architects of the Taj Mahal -- Craftsmen, materials, and construction techniques -- Construction history and celebrations of the anniversaries of Mumtaz Mahal's death -- Death and burial of Shah Jahan -- III. More than a tomb : the parts of the Taj Mahal -- The design -- The principles of Shahjahani architecture -- The principles as expressed in the Taj Mahal -- Modular planning of the Taj Mahal / Richard André Barraud -- A walk through the Taj Mahal complex -- The Jilaukhana (forecourt) zone -- The great gate -- The southern galleries -- The garden -- The garden-wall pavilions -- The riverfront terrace and the marble platform of the mausoleum -- The mausoleum -- The minarets -- The mosque and Mihman Khana, or assembly hall -- The side wings -- The towers of the riverfront terrace -- The bazaar and caravanserai complex (Taj Ganj) -- The waterworks -- Buildings outside the wall -- IV. The paradisiacal house of the queen -- The symbolism of white marble and red sandstone -- Naturalistic ornament as an expression of paradise -- The inscriptions -- Sound as an expression of eternity -- Funerary and commemorative rites -- V. Everybody's Taj Mahal -- Early travellers and picturesque discovery -- In British hands -- Visitors and comments -- The Taj Mahal in popular culture -- Conservation and future -- Postscript : visiting the Taj Mahal -- Map of Mughal India -- Lahauri's account of the complex on the occasion of its formal completion, on the twelfth anniversary of Mumtaz Mahal's death -- Factfile : detailed measurements of the Taj Mahal complex / Richard André Barraud -- Glossary.