This is the Story of the Love that inspired the building of the Taj Mahal, Wonder of the World, Monument to Love, Symbol of India known round the World, a product of the Mughal Empire from Akbar to Jahan, a time of growth and cultural tolerance, a time of Peace, Stability, flourishing of the Arts, a time of extraordinary building driven by exquisite architecture. This is the epic story of the legendary love between the Mughal Shah Jahan (1/5/1592 - 1/22/1666), and Mumtaz Mahal (10/29/1593 - 6/17/1631) celebrated in the building of the Taj Mahal, their eternal resting place, which has become well-known as a Wonder of the World. The story is told in a sequence of 23 cantos, each with three 9-line stanzas and a closing couplet. Each line has ten syllables, the "natural cadence of one breath of thought." The first 11 cantos are spoken in the voice of the living Jahan. Canto 12 is a dialogue on the occasion of the death of Mumtaz. Cantos 13 through 22 are spoken to Jahan in Her voice, from Beyond. The final Canto 23 is a dialogue of their mystic union. In his final days, Jahan was confined to the Red Fort at Agra, the Palace of the Mughal Empire, only allowed to gaze from the tower's parapet, into the distant myst at his Beloved Taj...visible along the River Yamuna. The Taj Mahal was built by more than 20,000 artisans from 1631 to 1653, a span of 22 years, designed by the architect, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, at a cost that would be equivalent to One Billion US Dollars. An architectural achievement of the highest order, the Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of world heritage."