Even if you have never been to the Taj Mahal, you have a picture of it in your mind, right? It’s a full frontal view, and it’s unquestionably beautiful.
But there is more to this marvelous, yes, mausoleum, and after going to India last winter, I wanted to say so and explain why. The result was published in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal–in the Masterpiece column (which I have praised  on this blog many times). It was headlined (and decked) The Taj Mahal’s Seductive Charms: As a visitor wanders the 42-acre site, this monument to love reveals itself in alluring stages.
It’s hard to find a key paragraph to quote here–my article unfolds a bit like looking at the Taj. So I post a few pictures instead–the full-frontal we know, a detail of the marble inlay, and an angled view of the dome. But click on the link to the WSJ, too–it has a marvelous sunset view that includes the adjacent Yamuna river. 
