How to build Taj Mahal in Minecraft

The marble mausoleum at monumental scale: a chamfered hall with four pointed iwan arches, a huge onion dome on a drum, four domed kiosks, four minarets with balconies, and the long reflecting pool lined with cypress trees.

Open the interactive 3D plan above to build it one layer at a time: every layer has a numbered top-down plan, a block list and full-screen step-by-step instructions you can tick off as you go. You can also download it for Litematica, WorldEdit or Minecraft Bedrock, or view it in your room in AR.

Materials list

BlockAmountStacks
Smooth Quartz Block4,55271 stacks + 8
Quartz Block2,94245 stacks + 62
Chiseled Quartz Block1,39321 stacks + 49
Grass Block3094 stacks + 53
Quartz Slab2323 stacks + 40
Smooth Stone1442 stacks + 16
Water951 stack + 31
Spruce Leaves701 stack + 6
Block of Gold10
Quartz Stairs10
Dark Oak Door4
Iron Bars2

Building tips

  1. Start with the plinth and minarets. They set out the whole footprint.
  2. The onion dome is a stack of rings: it swells to radius 9 and then pulls in to a point. Follow each layer's ring on the 2D grid.
  3. Smooth quartz for flat surfaces and chiseled quartz for trim keep it from looking like one white blob.
  4. Build the pool last so you can walk on the garden while you work.

Step-by-step: all 44 layers

  1. Layer 1 Smooth Quartz Block ×1421, Grass Block ×309, Smooth Stone ×144, Water ×95
  2. Layer 2 Smooth Quartz Block ×1374, Spruce Leaves ×14, Quartz Stairs ×5
  3. Layer 3 Smooth Quartz Block ×1225, Chiseled Quartz Block ×144, Spruce Leaves ×14, Quartz Stairs ×5
  4. Layer 4 Chiseled Quartz Block ×52, Quartz Block ×48, Smooth Quartz Block ×24, Spruce Leaves ×14, Dark Oak Door ×4
  5. Layer 5 Quartz Block ×60, Smooth Quartz Block ×48, Spruce Leaves ×14, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  6. Layer 6 Quartz Block ×60, Smooth Quartz Block ×52, Spruce Leaves ×14, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  7. Layer 7 Quartz Block ×60, Smooth Quartz Block ×52, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  8. Layer 8 Quartz Block ×60, Smooth Quartz Block ×52, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  9. Layer 9 Quartz Block ×84, Smooth Quartz Block ×36, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  10. Layer 10 Quartz Block ×92, Smooth Quartz Block ×28, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  11. Layer 11 Quartz Block ×60, Smooth Quartz Block ×52, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  12. Layer 12 Chiseled Quartz Block ×156, Smooth Quartz Block ×52, Quartz Block ×12
  13. Layer 13 Quartz Slab ×64, Quartz Block ×60, Smooth Quartz Block ×52, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  14. Layer 14 Quartz Block ×60, Smooth Quartz Block ×44, Chiseled Quartz Block ×16
  15. Layer 15 Quartz Block ×100, Smooth Quartz Block ×28
  16. Layer 16 Quartz Block ×108, Smooth Quartz Block ×12, Chiseled Quartz Block ×8
  17. Layer 17 Quartz Block ×116, Chiseled Quartz Block ×12
  18. Layer 18 Chiseled Quartz Block ×417, Quartz Block ×48
  19. Layer 19 Quartz Block ×100, Quartz Slab ×40, Chiseled Quartz Block ×36
  20. Layer 20 Chiseled Quartz Block ×148, Quartz Block ×52
  21. Layer 21 Quartz Block ×100, Quartz Slab ×64
  22. Layer 22 Quartz Block ×84, Chiseled Quartz Block ×36
  23. Layer 23 Quartz Block ×128, Chiseled Quartz Block ×36
  24. Layer 24 Quartz Block ×124
  25. Layer 25 Quartz Block ×140
  26. Layer 26 Quartz Block ×164, Block of Gold ×4
  27. Layer 27 Quartz Block ×116
  28. Layer 28 Chiseled Quartz Block ×148, Quartz Block ×68
  29. Layer 29 Quartz Block ×164, Quartz Slab ×64
  30. Layer 30 Quartz Block ×96
  31. Layer 31 Quartz Block ×88, Chiseled Quartz Block ×84
  32. Layer 32 Quartz Block ×96
  33. Layer 33 Quartz Block ×84
  34. Layer 34 Quartz Block ×76
  35. Layer 35 Quartz Block ×48, Chiseled Quartz Block ×36
  36. Layer 36 Quartz Block ×108
  37. Layer 37 Quartz Block ×56
  38. Layer 38 Quartz Block ×12
  39. Layer 39 Quartz Block ×9, Block of Gold ×4
  40. Layer 40 Quartz Block ×1
  41. Layer 41 Block of Gold ×1
  42. Layer 42 Iron Bars ×1
  43. Layer 43 Block of Gold ×1
  44. Layer 44 Iron Bars ×1

More famous landmarks