In marble and memory, the Taj Mahal stands as a monument not just to love, but to what is lost when it ends. An eternity of sorrow is embodied in this sacred structure whose name means "Crown of Palaces." Words can hardly do it justice.

Located in Agra, North India, the mausoleum was built by Shah Jahan, the Mogul Emperor of India, following the death of his cherished wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1631 during the birth of their 14th child. She was his light, and her absence consumed him.

Stricken with grief, Jahan no longer listened to music or wore fine linen. His constant weeping eventually required spectacles.

Philosopher Rabindranath Tagore called the Taj Mahal “a teardrop on the cheek of time.” Over 20,000 men labored for ten years to build India’s most famous wonder, and another twelve to complete its gardens and surrounding structures.

“There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery,” said Dante Alighieri. As a tribute to his beloved, Jahan spared no expense. Made entirely of white Jodhpur marble, the Taj shimmers with ever-changing color by light.

“It is one of the world's most spectacular examples of Islamic art, melded with Persian, Indian, and Central Asian influences,” wrote NY Times journalist Amy Waldman.

“Give sorrow words,” urged literary genius William Shakespeare. “The grief that does not speak, whispers in the overwrought heart and bids it break.”

In every sunrise upon its dome, love remembers.