Taj mahal |
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The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in
Agra, India. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan
commissioned it as a mausoleum for his
favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.Construction
began in 1632 and was completed in approximately
1648. Some dispute surrounds the question
of who designed the Taj; it is clear a
team of designers and craftsmen were responsible
for the design, with Ustad Ahmad Lahauri
considered the most likely candidate as
the principal designer.
The Taj Mahal (sometimes
called "the Taj") is generally
considered the finest example of Mughal
architecture, a style that combines elements
of Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic
architectural styles. While the white
domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar
part of the monument, the Taj Mahal is
actually an integrated complex of structures.
It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in 1983 when it was described as
a "universally admired masterpieces
of the world's heritage." |
Origin and inspiration |
Shah Jahan, emperor
of the Mughal Empire during a period of
great prosperity, controlled extensive
resources. In 1631, his second wife died
during the birth of their daughter Gauhara
Begum, their fourteenth child. Shah Jahan
was reported to have been inconsolable.
Contemporary court chronicles contain
many stories concerning Shah Jahan's grief
at Mumtaz's death; these are the basis
of the "love-story" traditionally
held as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.
'Abd al-Hamid Lahawri, for example, noted
that before her death, the Emperor had
"but twenty white hairs in his beard,"
but thereafter had many more.
Construction of the Taj
Mahal was begun in Agra soon after Mumtaz's
death. The principal mausoleum was completed
in 1648, and the surrounding buildings
and garden were finished five years later.
Visiting Agra in 1663, the French traveller
François Bernier wrote the following:
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I shall finish
this letter with a description of the
two wonderful mausoleums which constitute
the chief superiority of Agra over Delhi.
One was erected by Jehan-guyre [sic] in
honor of his father Ekbar; and Chah-Jehan
raised the other to the memory of his
wife Tage Mehale, that extraordinary and
celebrated beauty, of whom her husband
was so enamoured it is said that he was
constant to her during life, and at her
death was so affected as nearly to follow
her to the grave |
The garden
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The complex is set
in and around a large charbagh (a formal
Mughal garden divided into four parts).
Measuring 320 m × 300 m, the garden
uses raised pathways which divide each
quarter of the garden into 16 sunken parterres
or flowerbeds. A raised marble water tank
at the centre of the garden, halfway between
the tomb and the gateway, and a linear
reflecting pool on the North-South axis
reflect the Taj Mahal. Elsewhere the garden
is laid out with avenues of trees and
fountains.
The charbagh garden was
introduced to India by the first Mughal
emperor Babur, a design inspired by Persian
gardens. The charbagh is meant to reflect
the gardens of Paradise (from the Persian
paridaeza -- a walled garden). In mystic
Islamic texts of the Mughal period, paradise
is described as an ideal garden, filled
with abundance. Water plays a key role
in these descriptions: In Paradise, these
text say, four rivers source at a central
spring or mountain, and separate the garden
into north, west, south and east.
Most Mughal charbaghs
are rectangular in form, with a central
tomb or pavilion in the centre of the
garden. The Taj Mahal garden is unusual
in siting the main element, the tomb,
at the end rather than at the centre of
the garden. But the existence of the newly
discovered Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight
Garden" on the other side of the
Yamuna provides a different interpretation
-- that the Yamuna itself was incorporated
into the garden's design, and was meant
to be seen as one of the rivers of Paradise.
The layout of the garden,
and its architectural features such as
its fountains, brick and marble walkways,
geometric brick-lined flowerbeds, and
so on, are similar to Shalimar's, and
suggest that the garden may have been
designed by the same engineer, Ali Mardan.
Early accounts of the
garden describe its profusion of vegetation,
including roses, daffodils, and fruit
trees in abundance. As the Mughal Empire
declined, the tending of the garden declined
as well. When the British took over management
of the Taj Mahal, they changed the landscaping
to resemble more the formal lawns of London. |
The tomb |
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The focus of the
Taj Mahal is the white marble tomb. Like
most Mughal tombs, the basic elements
are Persian in origin: a symmetrical building
with an iwan, an arch-shaped doorway,
topped by a large dome.
The tomb stands on a
square plinth. The base structure is a
large, multi-chambered structure. The
main chamber houses the cenotaphs of Shah
Jahan and Mumtaz (the actual graves are
a level below).
The base is essentially
a cube with chamfered edges, roughly 55
metres on each side (see floor plan, right).
On the long sides, a massive pishtaq,
or vaulted archway, frames the iwan, with
a similar arch-shaped balcony above. These
main arches extend above the roof of the
building by use of an integrated facade.
To either side of the
main arch, additional pishtaqs are stacked
above and below. This motif of stacked
pishtaqs is replicated on the chamfered
corner areas.
The design is completely
uniform and consistent on all sides of
the building. Four minarets, one at each
corner of the plinth, facing the chamfered
corners, frame the tomb. |
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