Talk:Taj Mahal

Size of the garden

Good morning. The article states: „The complex is set around a large 300 m2 (3,200 sq ft) charbagh or Mughal garden.“ It‘s hard to believe that the garden is that small. Nikkis (talk) 09:04, 26 January 2025 (UTC)

Can you prove it with any reliable source? (wp:rs)? — Cerium4B—Talk? • 09:35, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

Having been there, it is surely much larger than that. We also say "The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house" - apart from the buildings, all the rest inside the walled compound is garden. Johnbod (talk) 12:01, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

For many years (back to 2019 at least) the article said "The complex is set around a large 300-metre (980 ft) square charbagh or Mughal garden", which is even more nonsensical. I have removed the numbers completely, until we get a referenced figure. Johnbod (talk) 12:11, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

Back in 2005 we said "Measuring 1000 ft × 1000 ft (300 m × 300 m), the garden has ...". I think the maths has challenged some editors here; 300 m × 300 m is 9,000 m2, is it not? And the metres-feet conversion is very rough. Johnbod (talk) 12:20, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

Erm - sorry Johnbod but 300 x 300 = 90,000, not 9,000. Best wishes - Arjayay (talk) 12:35, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

Oh, well, there you go - not 300 anyway. I suppose areas around the edges, especially near the entrance, might not be counted as "garden", so I won't attempt to reconcile the "17-hectare (42-acre)" with this. Johnbod (talk) 12:39, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

Taj Mahal: The Silent Poem of Stone and Shadow

Aleeza Hanif (talk) 04:43, 2 August 2025 (UTC)

Rename article to Tejo Mahalaya

Wikipedia should update

Recently movie has been released based on true events

Hence this article should be renamed too Tejo Mahalaya and it is a Hindu temple not some mahal

Modi is going to rename soon, so wikipedia do it now ~2025-32419-73 (talk) 17:39, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

For people curious what this is about, see The Taj Story. Short answer, no , we won't. Fram (talk) 10:56, 10 November 2025 (UTC)

Who designed the Taj? Infobox and lead overstate the Ustad Ahmad Lahori attribution

I'd like to propose two changes, following the recent revision of Ustad Ahmad Lahori, which is now sourced to Koch (2006) and Begley & Desai (1989).

Current infobox: "architect = Ustad Ahmad Lahori"

Current lead: "The construction project employed more than 20,000 workers and artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the emperor's court architect. The complex was designed and executed by a multinational board of artisans and supervisors, including Ottoman dome designer Ismail Afandi; Persian architects Ustad Isa, Isa Muhammad Effendi, and Puru; [...] and masonry supervisors Muhammad Hanif, Mir Abdul Karim, and Mukkarimat."

Sources:

• Koch, The Complete Taj Mahal (2006), p. 89: "The identity of the architect or architects of the Taj Mahal is not definitely known, because, as we have seen, the histories of Shah Jahan's reign emphasize the emperor's personal involvement." The planning of Shah Jahan's buildings "was carried out by a team of architects who worked under his close supervision." Ahmad Lahori "was credited by his son, Lutfullah Muhandis – though not in the official chronicles – with building the Taj Mahal", while the official historian Lahauri names Mir Abd-ul Karim as supervisor of construction "together with the administrator Makramat Khan". Also: "Only one of the artists who worked at the Taj Mahal is known by name: the calligrapher Abd-ul-Haqq from Shiraz, given the title Amanat Khan". Koch adds that 19th-century local informants of the British "fabricated the story of an architect from Turkey named 'Ustad Isa', and came up with fictional lists of workmen and materials from all parts of Asia" (p. 89; see also p. 237).
• Begley & Desai, Taj Mahal: The Illumined Tomb (1989), p. 261, the main scholarly case for Ahmad, describe the evidence as "primarily circumstantial", the "single explicit evidence" being his son's verse.

Proposed infobox: remove the architect field, since the architect is not definitely known; the attribution is explained in the lead.

Proposed lead: "The construction project employed more than 20,000 workers and artisans. Shah Jahan's court histories emphasise the emperor's personal role in its design, and the planning was carried out by a team of architects working under his close supervision. The official histories name Makramat Khan and Mir Abd al-Karim as supervisors of construction but name no architect. The design has been attributed to Ustad Ahmad Lahori, who was credited with the building by his son, though not in the official chronicles. The only artist of the Taj Mahal known by name is the calligrapher Amanat Khan." (cited to Koch 2006, p. 89)

The "board of architects led by" wording and the multinational list (cited to Indo-Iranica, 1979) conflict with Koch on both points, so I propose replacing them as above. I'll wait for comments before making any change. Goshua55 (talk) 09:58, 23 October 2026 (UTC)