'Impressive beyond words': Texas governor Greg Abbott visits the Taj Mahal

AGRA, India (KTRK) -- The drumbeat of the city moves in waves. alternating between the past and future......

Agra was once the cultural center of the ancient Mughal Empire. Even today, through the haze of smog, the history of its people looks over the bustling city.

Even in 104-degree heat, people are not kept away from the long lines of people hoping to see the Taj Mahal.

More than eight million people visit this moment every year, and many of them wait for up to 10 hours just to get in.

The Emporer Shah Jahan built this shrine for his favorite wife, who died while delivering his 14th child.

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This romantic monument is a mausoleum, built as a symbol of eternal love. Today, both husband and wife are entombed here.

"My first thought was that I hope my wife doesn't mention the same thing," Gov. Greg Abbott said, after visiting the ancient wonder with the first lady of Texas.

The governor said he was astonished by its near perfect symmetry.

"It's remarkable that you could have that level of detail in that era, where they didn't have access to the same kind of equipment and machinery that we have," Abbott said. "To see it with such precision and beauty and stand the test of time and still remain as remarkable today as it was in the 1600s."

The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build and finally opened to the public in 1653.

Legend has it 20,000 workers built this project by hand, using more than 1,000 elephants to transport the white marble that still gleams from the shrine.

"It's impressive beyond words," Abbott said. "It's a treasure for India, it's a treasure for the entire world."

A treasure that has stood still for centuries, as the world moves around it.

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