Pictures capture the beauty and achievement of the Taj Mahal better than my words ever could.

So I will post many pictures taken by me and of me by my fabulous guides. You can read all the details online about dimensions, materials, location, cost and spirituality.

However, there's nothing like seeing it. So put it on your bucket list. You won't be disappointed.

What I can talk about is the backstory. It's a 400-year-old (Nighttime) Soap Opera (getting it's adult rating from some violent episodes among the key characters).

The source material was my fantastic personal guide for 24 hours, Manisha, along with various internet posts. Not everything lined up, so like any other historian, I'll pass on the facts that make my story interesting.

Shah Jahan, the 5th Emperor of the Mughal Empire, commissioned the construction of the palace in 1632 to honor his late wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

Now Mumtaz was Jahan's third wife and clearly his favorite. The first two bore him no children, a plot line often used in the Old Testament. Mumtaz was a Persian born in Agra, the site of the palace named after her.

And did she deserve it!!!!

She produced 14 children, but only six survived. Mumtaz didn't survive the 14th as she died in childbirth while accompanying Jahan on a war campaign.

Her name translates as "Chosen One of the Palace" thus he named the Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum Taj Mahal meaning "Crown of the Palace."

Of the six surviving children, four were male and each was made a Governor of a distant state in India. The third son, Aurangzeb, is the bad guy in this tale. Really, really bad. Aurangzeb deposed his father because the empire's coffers were emptying quickly. The palace supposedly cost $40 million during the 22 years of construction. Jahan also started building the foundation for a smaller but identical black Taj Mahal on the other side of the Yamuna River for his own internment. This way Jahan would always be in Mumtaz's shadow.

Aurangzeb imprisoned Jahan a mile down the river in Fort Agra, where he could still see his masterpiece. There is a tale that Aurangzeb cut off the hands of all the artists who worked on the Taj Mahal so they would never build anything as beautiful. Another tale that he just cut off the hands of the architect and designers. Neither is probably true. Instead, he pulled a power play on his three brothers.

Get this Game of Throne fans: Aurangzeb beheaded one brother; had a second brother executed; and sent the third scurrying to Burma, where he died in the jungle.

Aurangzeb ruled until his death in 1707 at age 88! Only the bad die old.

Shah Jahan died from an illness in 1657 and slept happily ever after in a separate coffin next to Mumtaz Mahal's just under the Taj's enormous dome. Although I did read that their bodies are actually buried elsewhere on the grounds.

One factual Taj note that must be shared: An estimated 20,000 workers constructed the palace, other buildings, gardens, fountains, etc., and lived in structures built outside the south gate. Today, living outside the south gate, are 17th generation descendants of those workers who help maintain the grounds today.