The word “breathtaking” gets thrown around a lot to describe beautiful places and scenery, but rarely is it meant in a literal sense. At the Taj Mahal, I literally felt my breath leave my body when I walked through the south gate and laid eyes on this majestically beautiful building for the first time.

I arrived with my guide shortly after opening and decided to film a hyperlapse of my entry through the south gate. A crowd was forming at the entrance so I focused on walking as straight as I could by following the central line on the ground. When the mausoleum’s white dome started to reveal itself from beyond the horizon of people’s heads, my breath began trembling involuntarily before leaving my body in a sigh as I walked through the gate and into the courtyard.

There she was, the iconic Taj Mahal, even more striking than I ever imagined. Seeing her for the first time literally took my breath away.