The white marble for the Taj Mahal came from Makrana, a town in Rajasthan.
Makrana is one of India’s historic marble-producing centers, located in the Aravalli region of Rajasthan. Its distinctive calcitic marble was prized for its whiteness, strength, translucence, and resistance to water seepage. These qualities made it especially suitable for an imperial monument intended to retain its brilliance.
The Mughal builders used the marble for the mausoleum and combined it with intricate pietra dura, or parchin kari, inlay. Craftspeople set colored stones into the white surface to create flowers, foliage, and geometric patterns. Red sandstone was used extensively for other buildings and parts of the wider complex.
The answer is sometimes confused with nearby major Rajasthan cities such as Jaipur or Jodhpur. Those cities are important regional centers, but Makrana is the named source town associated with the Taj Mahal’s famous marble. Makrana marble was also used in later landmarks, including Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial.