The Taj Mahal Coloring Pages

A Tomb Built for a Queen

The Taj Mahal is a big tomb made of white marble in Agra, northern India.
It was built by Shah Jahan, an emperor of the Mughal Empire. He had it made for his beloved queen, Mumtaz Mahal, who passed away in 1631. It is amazing that it is not a palace or a castle, but a tomb built for just one person.

It Took 22 Years to Finish

Construction started in 1632 and finished in 1653. It took 22 years!
About 20,000 craftsmen were brought together. The white marble was carried from far away, and it is said that more than 1,000 elephants were used to move it.

Everything is Symmetrical

The biggest feature of The Taj Mahal is that it is completely symmetrical.
If you draw a line down the middle, the left and right sides are the exact same shape. The dome, arches, four towers, front garden, and water channels are all matched in pairs. When you color this coloring page, the key is to make the left and right sides match!

A Dome That Is 58 Meters High

The top of the big dome in the center is 58 meters high. That is as tall as a 15-story building!
Can you see that it looks like an onion and bulges a little bit above its base? There are four smaller domes around it that make the big dome stand out.

The Four Towers Lean Outward

The thin towers standing at the four corners of the building are called minarets. These four towers have a hidden secret.
They look straight, but they were actually built leaning slightly outward. This was done so that if an earthquake made them fall, they would not collapse onto the main body of the tomb. That is amazing care for a building made 400 years ago!

Gems Are Inlaid Inside

If you look closely at the white marble, you will see colorful patterns. These are not painted with paint, but gems set into carved-out stone.
It is said that 28 kinds of gems and precious stones were used! Patterns of flowers and vines are fitted together with no gaps.
It was registered as a World Cultural Heritage site in 1983. People visit from all over the world to see this famous building of India.

Don't Color the White Building

The Taj Mahal is made of white marble. So, leaving the building mostly uncolored is the right trick.
Just add a little bit of light blue or light gray to the shady spots. Put it inside the arches, under the dome, or on the right side of the towers. It is best to leave most of it white.

Color Only One Side of the Dome to Make It Look Round

If you color just one side of the big middle dome lightly, it will look round.
If you decide the light comes from the left, add light gray only to the right side. Blend the edges gently to make it look smooth and round like a ball. If you color the whole thing, it will just look like a gray mountain.

Add Color Only to the Pattern Strips

There are long strips of decorations along the edges of the building. Real jewels are set into these parts.
Since you are leaving the building white, adding color only to these strips will make your picture pop! Try using a little bit of red, blue, and green. Don't forget to use the same color in the same spot on both sides so they match.

Keep the Reflection in the Water Light

The building reflects upside down in the waterway at the front. Make sure to use much lighter colors here than on the real building.
For the water itself, brush light blue only side to side. If you leave the paper white along the wave lines, the water will look shiny and bright!

Color the Trees Deep Green to Match on Both Sides

There are pointy trees lined up on both sides of the waterway. Let's color these a deep green.
This makes a nice contrast with the white building and helps the main subject stand out. Coloring the trees in the same spots on both sides with the same color will show off its pretty matching design.

Towers built tilting on purpose

The four minarets standing at the four corners look straight, don't they? But actually, they were built tilting just a little bit outward.
The reason is earthquakes. They tilted them outward ahead of time so that if the towers fell, they wouldn't collapse onto the tomb in the middle. That means someone thought of all that when designing it nearly 400 years ago!

1,000 Elephants carried the materials

The white marble used for The Taj Mahal couldn't be found near Agra. People had to bring it from far away places.
And elephants were a big help! It is said that over 1,000 elephants carried the stones. 20,000 craftspeople were brought together, and the construction went on for 22 years.

It changes colors depending on the time

The Taj Mahal is a white building, but people say it looks like it changes colors during the day.
It looks pale pink in the morning, dazzling white at noon, gold in the evening, and bluish-white on a moonlight night. This happens because the white marble reflects the light just as it is. That's a great reason you can use any colors you like for your coloring page!

The legend of the Black Taj Mahal

There is a story that says, "Shah Jahan planned to build another The Taj Mahal out of black marble on the other side of the river for his own tomb."
However, people think this is a legend made up later on, and no evidence has been found. In the end, Shah Jahan was buried right here in this same tomb with his wife.