The Taj Mahal is turning green from pollution
Getty
It's one of the world's most recognisable landmarks, but soon the Taj Mahal might look a little different to how you remembered.
Agra's grand 17th century mausoleum in India is starting to succumb to the effects of the city's filthy air. The atmosphere of the world's eighth most polluted city is turning the wondrous building yellow and green—and that's the least disgusting part.
The garbage-strewn Yamuna River surrounding the Taj Mahal are breeding-grounds for tiny insects which leave behind an excrement that stains the white marble, an environmental lawyer told India's Supreme Court.
Activists are also concerned that the wooden foundations of the structure may be weakened by the falling water table in Agra. While the nearby conglomeration of traffic pollution and smoke billowing from chimneys also pose threats to the Taj complex.
In a bid to do what they can, restorers have been using a paste of clay to help clean the marble.
The court has since slammed the government for their lack of care towards the monument, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. The project was commission in 1632 and took 20 years to be completed, with the help of approximately 20,000 workers.
