Taj Museum

This guide to the Taj Museum in Agra opens with the celadon dishes once believed to protect Mughal royalty from poison, kept close by Empress Mumtaz Mahal, and moves to her death in 1631 after more than thirty hours of labor. You'll hear how Emperor Shah Jahan's grief showed itself in the months that followed, and see the portraits and architectural drawings on display that trace how that loss shaped the Taj Mahal's design. Look for the drawings showing where the marble was quarried before construction began.