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Taj
Mahal
Taj Mahal in all glory
Agra, once the capital of the Mughal Empire during the 16th and early 18th centuries, is one and a half hours by express train from New Delhi. Tourists from all over the world visit Agra not to see the ruins of the red sandstone fortress built by the Mughal emperors but to make a pilgrimage to Taj Mahal, India?s most famous architectural wonder, in a land where magnificent temples and edificies abound to remind visitors about the rich civilization of a country that is slowly but surely lifting itself into an industrialized society. It has been called the most beautiful temple in the world and is also the seventh wonder of the world.
The
postcard picture of Taj Mahal does not adequately convey the legend, the
poetry and the romance that shroud what Rabindranath Tagore calls "a teardrop
on the cheek of time". Taj Mahal means "Crown Palace" and is
in fact the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the
world. It is best described by the English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold, as "Not
a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions
of an emperor?s love wrought in living stones." It is a celebration of
woman built in marble and that?s the way to appreciate it.
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Taj Mahal stands on the bank of River Yamuna, which otherwise serves as a wide moat defending the Great Red Fort of Agra, the center of the Mughal emperors until they moved their capital to Delhi in 1637. In 1612, Arjumand Banu Begam, better known by her other name, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess was married to Shah Jehan (then Prince Khurram), the fifth mughal emperor. This marriage, although the emperor's second, was a real love-match, and Mumtaz was her husband's inseparable companion on all his journeys and military expeditions. She was his comrade, his counsellor, and inspired him to acts of charity and benevolence towards the weak and the needy. The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of Mumtaz Mahal. She died while accompanying her husband in Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion after giving birth to their 14th child. The death so crushed the emperor that all his hair and beard were said to have grown snow white in a few months.
Construction began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty thousand people were deployed to work on it. It was completed in 1648 at a cost of 32 Million Rupees. It was designed by the Iranian architect Istad Usa, a reonwed Islamic Arhitect of his times. Expert craftsmen from Delhi, Qannauj, Lahore, and Multan were employed. In addition, many renowned Muslim craftsmen from Baghdad, Shiraz and Bukhara worked on many specialized tasks. It is best appreciated when the architecture and its adornments are linked to the passion that inspired it. It is a "symbol of eternal love".
The Taj rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a huge white marble terrace on which rests the famous dome flanked by four tapering minarets. Within the dome lies the jewel-inlaid cenotaph of the queen. So exquisite is the workmanship that the Taj has been described as "having been designed by giants and finished by jewellers". The only asymmetrical object in the Taj is the casket of the emperor which was built beside the queen?s as an afterthought. The emperor was deposed by his son and imprisoned in the Great Red Fort for eight years but was buried in the Taj. During his imprisonment, he had a view of the Taj.
The Tombs inside the Taj Mahal
The dome is made of white marble, but the tomb is set against the plain across the river and it is this background that works its magic of colours that, through their reflection, change the view of the Taj. The colours change at different hours of the day and during different seasons. Like a jewel, the Taj sparkles in moonlight when the semi-precious stones inlaid into the white marble on the main mausoleum catch the glow of the moon. The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines. These changes, they say, depict the different moods of woman. Under the full moon the pearly white exterior is shrouded in mystery. Love, the greatest mystery of all. Sing in the inner shrine and the notes will float upwards in a presentiment of the music of the spheres.
Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that the Taj has a life of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or substracted from it.
Pictures of Taj Mahal
This marble screen in
the Taj Mahal attracts the visitors from all over the world.
Picture of Taj Mahal
late in the evening
Breathtaking ..isnt it?
Another View of The Taj
Mahal from across the River Yamuna
Taj Mahal at Sunset
Panoramic View of the
Taj
Refelction of the Taj
Close view of the Taj
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