While the Mahal at the Taj Mahal complex is its most revered feature, there are various other attributes that add a lot of splendor to its already present grandiose. The three walls that surround the Taj Mahal complex are made of crenelated red sandstone. One side, which faces the river is open. Several other buildings are outside the walls of the complex and they member other mausoleums for Shah Jahan's other wives. These tombs are examples of Mughal architecture, which make use of red sandstone. The walls of the complex also have viewing areas like watch-towers. Then there is also the Music House, which is a museum now. The gateway or darwaza is made primarily of marble like the Mughal architecture of old. It makes use of bas relief and pietra dura inlaid decorations having flowers as motifs. There are also a lot of elaborate geometrical designs all over. The mosque, the Guest-house and the Garden are other important elements of the Taj Mahal Complex.
At the far end of the complex there are two buildings that are perfect mirror images of each other. The western building houses a mosque, while the eastern one was used as a guest house. The only difference between the two buildings are the absence of the mihrab in the building that was used as a guest house and the flooring in the two buildings. The mosque's floor is made up of outlines of 539 prayer rugs in black marble while the floor of the other building had geometrical designs on it. This mosque takes its basic design from Jama Masjid in Delhi which was also built by Shah Jahan. The mosque was divided into three sections which included a main sanctuary and two smaller sanctuaries on either side.
The Taj Mahal complex has in its center a 300 meter square garden called a charbagh, which is reminiscent of gardens in Mughal architecture. The garden is divided into four quarters and is then further divide into sixteen sections of flowerbeds. At the exact center of the entire complex is the marble water tank, that is equidistant from the gate and the tomb. The image of the Taj Mahal is reflected in the pool that lies between the gate and the tomb. The marble tank is called Hawd al-Kawthar, with reference to the Tank o f Abundance, that was promised by Prophet Mohammad. There are many fountains all over the garden and the avenues with trees are numerous too. The garden is designed keeping in mind the design of Persian gardens, first introduced in India by the first Mughal Emperor, Babur.
The garden symbolizes the four the four rivers of paradise . According to mystic Islamic texts in use during the Mughal era, paradise is a garden of plentiful with four rivers flowing from the center into four directions, and hence diving the garden into four directions. Unlike most Mughal gardens which have the tombs in the center, the charbagh is different in the sense that the tomb here is located at the end. The layout of the garden is similar to that of the Shalimar gardens and hence suggest had the same architect, Ali Madan. This garden at its best, had large spreads of daffodils, roses and fruit trees. With the fall of the Mughal Empire, its grandeur also fell. The British then revived the garden, but changed its landscape to seem like the lawns of London.
While definitely, the Taj Mahal by itself has it's own grandeur, the Taj Mahal Mosque, the Guest-house and the Garden are important features of the Mughal Architecture at the site.
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