Taj Mahal
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The Tãj Mahal is a monument located in Agra, India, at 27° 10'28.67''N, 78° 2'32.05''E, constructed between 1631 and 1654 by a workforce of 22,000. The Mughal Emperor Shãh Jahãn commissioned its construction as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Arjumand Bano Begum, who is better known as Mumtãz. The Taj Mahal (sometimes called “the Tag”) is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Persian, Indian and Islamic. The Taj Mahal has achieved special note because of the romance of its inspiration. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar part of the monument, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures.
Origin and inspiration
Shãh Jahãn, who commissioned the monument, was a prolific builder with effectively limitless resources. He had previously created the gardens and palaces of Shalimar in honor of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal. After her death in childbirth (she had already borne him fourteen children) Shah Jahan was reportedly inconsolable; the court chronicler 'Abd al-Hamid Lahawri tells us that before her death the emperor had but twenty white hairs in his beard, but thereafter many more. The contemporary court chroniclers paid an unusual amount of attention to Mumtaz Mahal's death and Shah Jahan's grief at her demise, and it may well be that the traditional “love-story” associated with the construction of the Taj has some basis in fact. The Taj Mahal was begun not long after Mumtaz's death in 1631. The principal mausoleum was completed seventeen years later, and the surrounding buildings and garden five years after that.
Influences on Taj Mahal design
The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on many design traditions, particularly Hindu, Persian and earlier Mughal architecture.
The overall design derived inspiration from a number of successful Timurid and Mughal buildings. These include the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and his own Jama Masjid. Under Shah Jahan's patronage, Mughal building reached new levels of refinement; while previous Mughal building had primarily been constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones.
Hindu craftsmen, particularly sculptors and stonecutters, plied trade throughout Asia during this period, and their work was particularly prized by tomb builders. Whilst the rock-cut architecture which characterises much of this construction had little influence on the Taj Mahal (carvings are only one form of the decorative element), other Indian buildings such as the Man Singh palace in Gwalior were an inspiration for much Mughal palace architecture and the source for the chhatris which can be seen on the Taj Mahal.
The garden
The complex is set in and around a large charbagh (a formal Mughal garden divided into four parts). Measuring 320 m x 300 m, the garden has sunken parterres or flowerbeds, raised pathways, avenues of trees, fountains, water courses, and pools that reflect the Taj Mahal.
Each of the four quarters of the garden is divided into 16 flowerbeds by raised pathways. A raised marble water tank at the centre of the garden, halfway between the tomb and the gateway, reflects the Taj Mahal.
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 as described as 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.
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