How many minarets surround the Taj Mahal?

Four minarets surround the Taj Mahal, with one standing at each corner of the main plinth.

The towers are positioned around the mausoleum’s square marble platform and rise to more than 40 metres. Each minaret is divided into three principal sections by balconies and is topped with a small domed chhatri, echoing the decorative forms used on the central tomb.

Their primary architectural association is with mosque design: traditionally, a minaret provided a place from which a muezzin could call worshippers to prayer. At the Taj Mahal, however, the four towers also reinforce the monument’s strong bilateral and geometric symmetry.

A subtle engineering feature is easy to miss. The minarets were built with a slight outward inclination, so if one collapsed, it would tend to fall away from the central tomb rather than onto it. They are therefore both ornamental and carefully planned structural elements.