TAJ MAHAL

The Taj Mahal "crown of palaces", also "the Taj" is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.Taj Mahal is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish and Indian architectural styles.In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen.The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

Origin and inspiration
In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum.Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal.The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:
Shah Jahan, who commissioned the Taj Mahal -"Shah jahan on a globe" from the Smithsonian Institution
Taj Mahal site plan.
The Moonlight Garden to the north of the Yamuna.
Terrace area: Tomb, Mosque and Jawab.
Charbagh (gardens).
Gateway, attendant accommodations, and other tombs.
Taj Ganji (bazaar)
Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.
The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian architecture and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including; 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 Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, and buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.

Mahtab Bagh (Moonlight Garden)

Taj Mahal remains one of the most intriguing monuments of our times. The astounding number of facts, tales and myths that surround it only add to its mystery and to the mystery behind the man who ordered it built – Shahjahan the fifth Moghul Emperor of India. There has been much speculation and academic interest in whether or not Shahjahan planned to build his tomb across the river from the Taj. Foreign travellers who visited India during Shahjahan’s rule thought he might. A lone surviving tower and the remnants of a wall on the opposite bank of the river, suggested there may have been something planned but nobody really knew what. ‘The Moonlight Garden’ tells you just what it was – a Moonlight Garden called Mahtab Bagh - and dispels the myth of another Taj in black marble across from the Taj in white. It is a meticulous account, based on excavations and identification of plant remains from the site, that takes the reader into the Mahtab Bagh – a purpose built night garden, perfectly aligned to the gardens at the Taj. "….in plan, proportion, and directional alignment, the Mahtab Bagh extends the design of the gardens at the Taj Mahal." It was a part of the original plan of the Taj complex.

 

It is not just the alignment that is carried across the river – it is also the aesthetics. Central to the garden was an octagonal pool that held the reflection of the Taj on a moonlit night. The idea behind the garden may have been to make it an experience to watch the Taj from here on a full moon night.