“The one thing that will stay with you for life is that first glimpse of the Taj – there’s nothing quite like it,” said my guide, Manohar Singh, as we walked towards the eastern gate of the mausoleum.

Parchin kari, or pietra dura in Italian, is the art of marble inlay, which involves carving out marble slabs and inserting precious and semiprecious stones to create elaborate floral and geometric ...