<Tr> <Th> Reference </Th> <Td> 252 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Inscription </Th> <Td> 1983 (7th Session) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Taj Mahal (/ ˌtɑːdʒ məˈhɑːl, ˌtɑːʒ - /; meaning "Crown of the Palace") is an ivory - white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra . It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658), to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal . The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17 - hectare (42 - acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall . </P> <P> Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years . The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (U.S. $827 million). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri . </P>

Who built the taj mahal and for what purpose