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 There
is no greater and more inspirational love story than
the one that lies at the foundation of perhaps the most lavish
mausoleum ever built in history: the Taj Mahal. Standing at
180 feet tall, the Taj Mahal is located on the bank of River Yamuna,
in the heart of the small town of Agra in India. This town was once
the capital of the Mughal Empire between the 16th and the 18th
centuries and the Taj Mahal, arguably the finest example of Mughal
architecture, is one of the main reasons why people flock to this
sleepy town each year.
The story behind Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal was once described by Sir Edwin Arnold, an English
poet, as `not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but
the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones.’
No description could have been more apt. The name `Taj Mahal’ means
`Crown Palace’
in the Persian language, but it is also said be the
abbreviated form of the name of the woman who had inspired it. Shah Jahan, the Mughal Emperor at that time, erected the Taj Mahal in the
memory of his beloved wife, Arjumand Bano Begum, who was better
known as Mumtaz Mahal, or `Distinguished of the Palace’.
Mumtaz Mahal died while giving birth to their fourteenth child. The
story has it that before her death, she extracted four promises from
the emperor– first, he should build a monument in her memory;
second, he would marry again after her death; third, he would always
be kind to their children; and fourth, he would visit her tomb on
the anniversary of her death each year. After her death, Shah Jahan
was reportedly inconsolable and dedicated the rest of his life to
building the most magnificent monument possible for his late wife –
and what monument it was.
Construction began in 1631 and took 22 years to complete, with a
workforce of more than twenty thousand men and one thousand
elephants. The building materials were transported from all over
India and central Asia. It was primarily built of white marble, in
some parts inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones such as
jasper, lapis lazuli and sapphire. The whole building consists of a
complex of inter-connected parts, with the white-domed mausoleum
containing the tombs forming the centerpiece.
The work of art called the Taj Mahal
 Surrounding the complex is a formal Mughal garden divided into four
parts called the `charbagh’ - measuring 300m x 300m with sunken
landscapes, flowerbeds, raised pathways, avenues of trees,
fountains, water courses and pools. A long marble water tank in the
centre before the main building reflects it perfectly in the water.
Walls made of crenellated red sandstone surrounds the complex and
its garden, except on the side that faces the river. The main
gateway, called the `darwaza’, forms the entrance into the garden,
its archways mirroring the mausoleum’s and sporting similar design
elements and calligraphic adornment. Further towards the end, two
grand red sandstone buildings stand on the sides of the mausoleum,
mirroring each other: one is the mosque and the other one is the
`answer’ or `jawab’. The main differences between these two
buildings is that unlike the mosque, the jawab contains no `mihrab’
– a niche in the wall facing the Mecca, and where the mosque’s black
marble floor is decorated with the outlines of 569 prayer rugs, the
jawab has intricate geometric patterns.
The main structure of the Taj Mahal – the mausoleum itself - stands
on a square plinth. One of its most magical attractions is that it
seems to continually change colour: in the moonlight, it glows
silvery white, while during sunset, the stones are suffused with a
warm pink glow and during sunrise, a golden tinge. Standing two
stories tall, it is topped with a marble dome about 35 metres in
height, which is capped with a gilded finial. Flanking the mausoleum
are four marble pillars or minarets, each more than 40 metres in
height and incorporating the same design elements as the main
building. The minarets were constructed slightly out of plumb, so
that in the event of an earthquake which may bring about the
collapse of the building, the minarets would fall away from the
tomb.
The
Taj Mahal is a combination of Indian and Persian elements, with
strong Islamic influences as well as early Mughal architecture. As
you wander through the complex, you can see the uniformity in the
design and decorative elements used throughout the complex. Some of
the most detailed and intricate work can be found within the
building itself. Geometric designs decorate the insides of the
domes, and intricate carvings can be seen on the pillars. The
entrance archways are decorated with calligraphies depicting
selected verses from the Qur’an. The builders’ attention to detail
was exacting to an extraordinary degree: for instance, when the
calligraphies were etched, the optical perspective of the viewer was
taken into account, and the calligraphers made sure to increase the
size and spacing of the letters as they reached higher, so that to
the viewer down below, everything looked even and uniform.
The focal point of the entire mausoleum is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal,
which sits in the exact centre of the structure, deep within the
mausoleum. Beside the ornate central tomb is a second tomb, the
single object that disturbs the symmetry of the entire complex. This
second tomb is for the Emperor, Shah Jahan himself. An octagonal
marble screen featuring intricate designs pierced onto its surface
surrounds the tombs within. These ornate tombs are only replicas of
the real ones, which are situated deep within the underground
chamber, exactly beneath their replicas. Calligraphic inscriptions
on the marble caskets (which are inlaid with precious and
semi-precious stones) identify the bodies that lay beneath.
The legends surrounding Taj Mahal
 According to popular Indian legend, Shah Jahan ordered everyone who
was involved in the building of Taj Mahal to be blinded and their
arms amputated, so that nothing as magnificent would ever be built
again. Soon after the completion of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan was
overthrown by his own son Aurangzeb, and locked up in the nearby
Agra Fort. It was here that he spent the rest of his days forlornly
gazing out the window at the monument he had lovingly built for his
wife.
When he died, his son had him buried next to his wife in the Taj
Mahal, an act seen not as an honour to his father’s love for his
wife, but to spite his magnificent creation, as this move had
indirectly caused a blemish to the otherwise perfectly symmetrical
building.
It was also believed that an identical building was supposed to be
built on the other side of the river, across the Taj Mahal. This
building was to be built out of black marble, and was supposed to be
the final resting place of Shah Jahan himself, but his son took over
the throne before the `Black Taj’ could be built. The ruins of dark-coloured
marble that can be found across the river were believed to be the
unfinished base for the `Black Taj’.
The town of Agra can be reached via express train from India’s
capital, New Delhi, which takes about one and a half hour. Immerse
yourself in the magic of the Taj Mahal, preferably in the company of
a loved one.
Book Agra Hotels
here
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