Writing on the Wall
Before you see the Taj, you go through a grand front gate. This takes you out of the courtyard, where inlay artisans used to sit at built-in kiosks embedding semiprecious stones into marble to create the effect seen all over the Taj Mahal on day-to-day items like table-tops, coasters, vases, etc. However, these folks can no longer work their trade in the Taj courtyard, since the Supreme Court here ruled that they'd need to move in order to prevent pollution from their craft from gradually destroying the property and face of the monument itself. Apparently the dust, fumes, garbage, and other byproducts of production here were starting to encroach upon the inner structures, making them harder to clean and maintain.
This picture shows one of the columns of text that is part of the Koran - the Promise of Allah - which wraps all the way around the enormous doorway. The same text can be found inside the tomb walls of the Taj Mahal.