India's cleaning quandary: How to scale the Taj Mahal dome?

AGRA, India (AP) — Authorities in India are trying to figure out how workers will scale the Taj Mahal's majestic but delicate dome as they complete the first thorough cleaning of the World Heritage site since it was built 369 years ago.

Work on the mausoleum's minarets and walls is almost finished, after workers began the makeover in mid-2015.

They've been using a natural mud paste to remove yellow discoloration and return the marble to its original brilliant white. Called fuller's earth, it's the same clay that some people smother on their skin as a beauty treatment.

But the metal scaffolding used so far is too heavy and rigid for the dome, said Bhuvan Vikrama, the superintending archaeologist from the Archaeological Survey of India.