Taj Mahal - a Beautiful place to visit in India
The Taj
Mahal, an immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and
1648 by order of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, is the jewel of Muslim art in
India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.
It no doubt partially owes its renown to the moving circumstances of its
construction.
Shah Jahan,
in order to perpetuate the memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died
in 1631, had this funerary mosque built. The monument, begun in 1632, was
finished in 1648; unverified but nonetheless, tenacious, legends attribute its
construction to an international team of several thousands of masons, marble
workers, mosaicists and decorators working under the orders of the architect of
the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahori.
Situated
on the right bank of the Yamuna in a vast Mogul garden of some 17 ha, this
funerary monument, bounded by four isolated minarets, reigns with its octagonal
structure capped by a bulbous dome through the criss-cross of open perspectives
offered by alleys or basins of water.
The rigour of
a perfect elevation of astonishing graphic purity is disguised and almost
contradicted by the scintillation of a fairy-like decor where the white marble,
the main building material, brings out and scintillates the floral arabesques,
the decorative bands, and the calligraphic inscriptions which are incrusted in
polychromatic pietra dura. The materials were brought in from all over India
and central Asia and white Makrana marble from Jodhpur.
Precious
stones for the inlay came from Baghdad, Punjab, Egypt, Russia, Golconda, China,
Afghanistan, Ceylon, Indian Ocean and Persia. The unique Mughal style combines
elements and styles of Persian, Central Asian and Islamic architecture. The
Darwaza, the majestic main gateway, is a large three-storey red sandstone
structure, completed in 1648, with an octagonal central chamber with a vaulted
roof and with smaller rooms on each side.
The gateway
consists of lofty central arch with two-storeyed wings on either side. The
walls are inscribed with verses from the Qu'ran in Arabic in black calligraphy.
The small domed pavilions on top are Hindu in style and signify royalty. The
gate was originally lined with silver, now replaced with copper, and decorated
with 1,000 nails whose heads were contemporary silver coins.
The Bageecha,
the ornamental gardens through which the paths lead, are planned along
classical Mughal char bagh style. Two marble canals studded with fountains,
lined with cypress trees emanating from the central, raised pool cross in the
centre of the garden, dividing it into four equal squares. In each square there
are 16 flower beds, making a total of 64 with around 400 plants in each bed.
The feature to be noted is that the garden is laid out in such a way as to
maintain perfect symmetry. The channels, with a perfect reflection of the Taj,
used to be stocked with colourful fish and the gardens with beautiful
birds.
The Taj Mahal
itself, situated in the north end of the garden, stands on two bases, one of
sandstone and above it a square platform worked into a black and white
chequerboard design and topped by a huge blue-veined white marble terrace, on
each corner there are four minarets. On the east and west sides of the tomb are
identical red sandstone buildings. On the west is the masjid (mosque), which
sanctifies the area and provides a place of worship. On the other side’s is the
jawab, which cannot be used for prayer as it faces away from Mecca.
The rauza,
the central structure or the mausoleum on the platform, is square with bevelled
corners. Each corner has small domes while in the centre is the main double
dome topped by a brass finial. The main chamber inside is octagonal with a high
domed ceiling.
This chamber contains false tombs of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan, laid
to rest in precise duplicates in a. Both tombs
are exquisitely inlaid and decorated with precious stones, the finest in Agra.
The Taj Mahal's pure white marble shimmers silver in the moonlight, glows
softly pink at dawn, and at close of day reflects the fiery tints of the
setting Sun.
From an octagonal tower in the Agra Fort across the River Yamuna,
Shah Jahan spent his last days as a prisoner of his son and usurper to the
empire, Aurangzeb, gazing at the tomb of his beloved Mumtaz.
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