What shape is the Taj Mahal's main dome often described as?

The Taj Mahal’s main dome is often described as an onion dome. Its bulbous, tapering profile rises above the tomb like an elongated rounded form, a shape also associated with the terms amrud or apple dome.

The dome is one of the monument’s defining features and sits on a cylindrical drum above the central mausoleum. Its swelling outline gives the building a strong vertical emphasis, while the lotus-like ornament at its base and the gilded finial at its peak add layers of symbolic and decorative detail.

Four smaller domed chhatris surround the main dome at the corners of the roof. They echo its onion form and help connect the central structure with the rest of the composition. The Taj Mahal’s dome is therefore more than a roof: it is the visual climax of a carefully balanced Mughal design.

A hemispherical dome would be much closer to a half-sphere, so it does not best describe the Taj Mahal’s distinctive silhouette. The monument was commissioned by Shah Jahan after Mumtaz Mahal’s death, and the mausoleum was substantially completed in 1648.