The Taj Mahal

History of Taj Mahal
The origin of the name "Taj Mahal" is not clear. Court histories from Shah Jehan's reign only call it the rauza (tomb) of Mumtaz Mahal. It is generally believed that "Taj Mahal" (usually translated as either "Crown Palace" or "Crown of the Palace") is an abbreviated version of her name, Mumtaz Mahal.

The construction of this marble masterpiece is credited to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who erected this mausoleum in the memory of his beloved wife, Arjumand Bano Begum, popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died in AH 1040 (AD 1630). Her last wish to her husband was "to build a tomb in her memory such as the world had never seen before". Thus emperor Shah Jahan set about building this fairytale like marvel.

The construction of Taj Mahal was started in AD 1631 and completed at the end of 1648 AD. For seventeen years, twenty thousand workmen are said to be employed on it daily, for their accommodation a small town, named after the deceased empress-'Mumtazabad, now known as Taj Ganj, was built adjacent to it. Amanat Khan Shirazi was the calligrapher of Taj Mahal, his name occurs at the end of an inscription on one of the gates of the Taj. Poet Ghyasuddin had designed the verses on the tombstone, while Ismail Khan Afridi of Turkey was the dome maker. Muhammad Hanif was the superintendent of Masons. The designer of Taj Mahal was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site. The central dome is 187 feet high at the centre. Red sandstone was brought from Fatehpur Sikri, Jasper from Punjab, Jade and Crystal from China, Turquoise from Tibet, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire from Sri Lanka, Coal and Cornelian from Arabia and diamonds from Panna. In all 28 kind of rare, semi precious and precious stones were used for inlay work in the Taj Mahal. The chief building material, the white marble was brought from the quarries of Makrana, in distt. Nagaur, Rajasthan.

Taj Mahal - Building Details

Chief Builders

Despite several controversies that claim that the Taj Mahal was designed by an Italian Geronimo Veroneo, or a French silversmith Austin de Bordeaux, the first real evidence of the architect's identity emerged in the 1930s when a seventeenth century manuscript called the Diwan-i-Muhandis was found to mention the Taj Mahal. This manuscript contains a collection of several poems written by Luft Allah, including several verses in which he describes his father, Ustad Ahmad from Lahore, as the architect of the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort at Delhi. Ahmad was a Persian engineer-astrologer. Luft Allah also states that Shah Jehan conferred upon his father the title "Nadir al-Asr" (the Wonder of the Age); unfortunately court histories do not corroborate this claim. Other sources record that Ustad Ahmad was one of the architects of the Red Fort. Further evidence has been found of other large projects undertaken by Ustad Ahmad, strengthening the plausibility of his son's claim. It is interesting to note that Ustad Ahmad had a number of aliases : Ustad Khan Effendi, Ustad Mohammed, Isa Khan, Isa Effendi and a number of permutations of the name - fictional amalgam of Muslim sounding names, most likely the invention of latter-day British guidebook writers.

t must be emphasised that the design of the Taj Mahal cannot be ascribed to any single master-mind. The Taj is the culmination of an evolutionary process. It is the perfected stage in the development of Mughal architecture. The names of many of the builders who participated in the construction of the Taj in different capacities have come down to us through Persian sources. A project as ambitious as the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal demanded talent from many quarters. From turkey came Ismail Khan a designer of hemispheres and the a builder of domes. Qazim Khan, a native of Lahore travelled to Agra to cast the solid gold finial that crowned the Turkish master's dome. Chiranjilal, a local lapidary from Delhi was chosen as the chief sculptor and mosaicist. Amanat Khan from Shiraz was the chief calligrapher, and this fact is attested on the Taj gateway where his name has been inscribed at the end of the inscription. Muhammad Hanif was the Supervisor of masons, while Mir Abdul Karim and Mukkarimat Khan of Shiraz handled finances and the management of daily production. Sculptors from Bukhara, calligraphers from Syria and Persia, inlayers from South India, stonecutters from Baluchistan, a man who specialised in building turrets, another who carved only marble flowers - thirty seven men in all formed the creative nucleus, and to this core was added a labour force of twenty thousand workers recruited from across North India.

Material Used

Along with the labourers flocking to Agra, materials for construction also began arriving : principally red sandstone from local quarries and marble dug from the hills of far-off Makrana, slightly southwest of Jaipur in Rajasthan. Although the treasury was well filled, such prodigious quantities of rare stuffs were required that caravans travelled to all corners of the empire and beyond in search of precious materials. From Chinese Turkestan in Central Asia came Nephrite jade and crystal; from Tibet, turquoise; from upper Burma, yellow amber; from BaThe Taj Mahaldakhshan in the high mountains of northeastern Afghanistan, lapis lazuli; from Egypt, chrysolite; from the Indian Ocean, rare shells, coral, and mother-of-pearl. Topazes, onyxes, garnets, sapphires, bloodstone, forty three types of gems in all - ranging in depth from Himalayan quartz to Golconda diamonds - were ultimately to be used in embellishing the Taj Mahal.

n order to transport the marble, a ten mile long ramp of tamped earth was built through Agra, and on it trudged an unending parade of elephants and bullock carts dragging blocks of marble to the building site. Once the marble reached the Taj, it was hoisted into place by means of an elaborate post-and-beam pulley manned by teams of mules and masses of workers tugging and hauling.

The first buildings to be constructed were the tomb proper and the two mosques that flank it; then came the four minarets; finally the gateway and auxiliary buildings were erected. All were built as integral parts of a single unit, carefully planned to harmonise, for a law of Islam decrees that once a tomb is completed nothing can be added to it and absolutely nothing can ever be taken away from it.

The Actual Tomb - Rauza

The Taj Mahal is situated more than 900 ft. (275 m.) away from the entrance at the opposite end of the garden. Towering almost 200 ft. (76m.) in height, the tomb stands on its own marble plinth, which rests on a red sandstone platform that serves to level the land as it slopes to the river. Four tall minarets rise up from the corners of the white marble plinth. They taper to a majestic height of 138 ft. and are crowned with eight windowed cupolas. elegantly accent the central structure, framing the space like the mounting of a jewel.

The marble mausoleum is square in plan with chamfered corners. Each facade of the tomb is composed of a grand iwan framed by bands of calligraphy. The doorways inside these iwans are also adorned with calligraphy. The iwan is flanked on both sides by small double arches one over the other. They are rectangular while the arched alcoves of equal size at the angles of the tomb are semi-octagonal. Each section in the facade is well demarked on both sides by attached pilasters which rising from the plinth level of the tomb rise above the frieze and are crowned by beautiful pinnacles with lotus buds and finials. The pinnacles ornament the superstructure and help along with the other features to break the skyline gracefully.

The Taj Mahal is entered through the portal on the south side. Inside, two stories of eight rooms (four rectangular rooms on the sides and four octagonal small rooms at the corners) surround a central chamber. These rooms were originally used for the mullahs to chant the Koran and for Musicians who played soft Indians and Persian melodies. In this nine part plan, the visitor can circumambulate through the subsidiary rooms on each floor since they are interconnected. The central chamber is octagonal, and in the centre is the tomb of the queen and to one side is the casket of the emperor. The hall is 80 ft. high from the pavement to the soffit of the interior dome. This makes sound echo.

A bulbous white double-dome majestically crowns the Taj. The huge dome emphasises the monumentality of the structure as its pear shaped form sits on a tall drum. The height from the base of the drum to the top of the finial is almost 145 ft. (44 m.). The double domes fulfils various purposes. Besides providing a suitable and proportionate ceiling to the interior hall, it enabled the builder to raise the height of the outer dome as much as he desired in order to present a lofty and imposing effect. The space within the two domes is hollow and the inner cell reduces the weight of the dome. Four small kiosks clustered around the dome reduce the severity of the vertical emphasis.

The Main Gateway - Darwaza


Shah Jehan travelled from the fort to the tomb by boat. Court histories describe his arrival on the river side of the monument and his ascent to its terrace by way of the embankment. This approach, however, was reserved for the emperor and members of his party. Others passed through a large courtyard, a jilokhana to enter the main gateway on the south. This courtyard was a place where travellers halted. Here, also, the poor were provided with food and shelter, and on the anniversary day vast sums were distributed in charity from the funds with which the Taj was endowed.

Purpose

Taj Mahal EntranceIn this courtyard stand the main gateway to the Taj and its gardens, a massive portal that opens to the south. Detached gateways were long a traditional feature of Muslim architecture and could be found fronting tombs and mosques throughout the East. Symbolically to the Muslim, such an entrance way was the gate to paradise. Metaphysically, it represented the transition point between the outer world of the senses and the inner world of the spirit.

Structure

Made of red sandstone, this 150 ft. wide and nearly 100 ft. high, gateway consists of a lofty central arch with double storeyed wings on either side. Octagonal towers are attached to its corners which are surmounted by broad impressive open domed kiosks. The most important feature of the gateway however is the introduction of a series of eleven attached chhatris (umbrellas) with marble cupolas, flanked by pinnacles, above the central portal on the north and south sides. A heavy door at the base is made from eight different metals and studded with knobs. Inside are countless rooms with hallways that wind and divide in such apparent abandon that they seem intentionally built to confuse; perhaps they were, for they have remained unused for three centuries and their purpose has long confounded the experts. Within the archway of this majestic entrance, there is a large chamber with a vaulted roof.

Decoration

The gateway is richly embellished. Of particular note are the floral arabesques fashioned from gemstones and inlaid in while marble which decorate the spandrels of the arches. Also impressive are the inlaid black marble inscriptions that frame the central vaulted portal or iwan. These passages are excerpts from the Koran, which is considered by Muslims to be the word of God as revealed to Mohammed. It is here that Shah Jehan's calligraphers have performed an amazing optical trick : the size of the lettering that runs up and over the arch appears to be consistent from top to bottom. This illusion was created by gradually heightening the size of the letters as their distance from the eye increased; from the ground the dimensions seem the same at every point. This ingenious trompe l'oeil effect is used with equal success on the main doorway of the Taj itself. It is said that upon first beholding the Taj through this gateway it will look small and far away, as if built in three-quarter scale. This is another optical trick. As one approaches, the illusion turns into another illusion: the building begins to grow, and continues to grow until, when the base is reached, it looms colossal. The dome especially seems to expand as one comes near, almost as if it were being slowly inflated.

Taj Mahal Architecture



The Taj Mahal (Crown Palace) is India's most famous structure, and, perhaps the most beautiful piece of architecture in the world. Photographs cannot truly capture the grandeur of this perfectly proportioned tomb of Mumtaz Mahal and its creator, Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal ruler.

Mumtaz Mahal was the second, and favorite, wife of Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). A Persian princess born as Arjuman Banu Begum, she was a significant influence in his life and in his policies. She died at age thirty-nine while giving birth to their fourteenth (some say thirteenth) child in 1631. The ruler went into deep mourning and much of his empire was compelled to do the same.

Almost immediately there was announced a competition for plans to construct a tomb and shrine worthy of the ruler's beloved. Numerous legends surround the selection of the architect--some even implausibly suggesting that it was a westerner from Italy or France. But although a number of names have been proposed, the architect's name is unknown. It is clear that talent from many parts of the Muslim and western worlds came together in Agra to work on the mausoleum: engineers, carvers, artists, calligraphers, architects, craftsmen of all sorts, and a variety of common laborers. It is estimated that 20,000 people worked on the tomb from 1631 to 1648. Work continued in the adjoining areas until 1653. It should be noted that the Taj Mahal is a total package of tomb, mosque, gardens, gateways and fountains.

The Taj Mahal is set on a raised platform that is 6.6 meters (20 ft) high and covers an area of 93.9 sq. meters (313 sq ft). The corner minarets are 41.1 meters (137 ft) high. The main structure is 62 meters (186 ft) on each side. In contast to the gleaming white marble of the mausoleum, there is a pair of red sandstone buildings flanking the tomb to the west and to the east; the western building is a mosque, while the other, sometimes called the guest house or museum, was built to complete the symmetry of the scene. The water causeway and fountains beautifully join the gateway and the tomb in perfect symmetry.

There are numerous significant and striking elements in the creation of this masterpiece both inside the taj mahal as well as outside. The marvelously graceful piedra dura (or stone inlay work) that Adorns many surfaces. This ncludes the three major elements of the Muslim decorative arts: the sayings from the Q'uran, geometrical shapes and a variety of plant forms and flowers, often repeated as borders. The marble and precious stone inlays are so skillfully fit together that one can hardly detect a seam, even with close examination. The calligraphy of sayings from the Q'uran on the mausoleum, are in a kind of trompe l'oeil style; the letters gradually increase in size as they go up the side of the structure, so that from the ground all letters appear perfectly uniform. Perhaps, however, the greatest impact is how all of its parts fit together so perfectly, making the entire complex much greater than the sum of its parts.

n recent years, this great manument is fighting a strange battle - battle with increasing pollution of the area. Several measures have been taken and several projects are under operations to save the world's supreme architectural achievement.

How To Reach Taj Mahal

BY AIR
Indian Airlines (Domestic Airline in India) runs daily flights from Delhi to Agra. Kheria Airport (Airport of Agra) is about 6 km from the Agra city centre and is easily accessible by taxis and auto-rickshaws at nominal rates.

Indian Airlines has two offices in Agra:

* Hotel Clarks Shiraz, Taj Road, Agra.
* Kheria Airport.

BY RAIL / TRAIN
Taj MahalAgra is well connected by excellent train services to Delhi such as The Shatabdi Express (2 hrs), Taj Express (2.5 hrs), Intercity Express (3 hrs).

Railway Stations:

Agra Cantt Rly Stn, Enquiry: 131, 133. Reservation: 364611
Raja-ki-Mundi Rly Stn, Contact: 354477
Agra Fort Rly Stn, enbquiry: 132, 135 Reservation: 364131

BY ROAD -
Express bus services (a/c and non-a/c) are available from Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Gwalior, and Jhansi. For those driving to Agra, the distances are:

* Mathura (Pilgrimage Destination) - 58 kms.
* Bharatpur (Bird Sanctury) - 60 kms.
* Gwalior (Historical Destination) - 118 kms
* Delhi (Capital City of India) - 203 kms
* Jaipur (Cultural & Historical Destination) - 236 kms.
* Khajuraho (Historical Destination) - 393 kms.

FACT FILE:
Location of Taj Mahal: Agra, India
Famous As: 7th Wonder of the world
Taj Mahal Was Built By: Mughal Emperor Shahjahan
Built In The Memory Of: Mumtaz Mahal
State: Uttar Pradesh, India
Temp: Summer - Max - 45 degree centigrade, Winter - Min - 4 degree centigrade Sheer poetry in marble. Majesty and magnificence, unrivalled. Love redefined. The Taj Mahal, the one and only one of its kind across the world. The monumental labour of love of a great ruler for his beloved queen. The ultimate realisation of Emperor Shahjahan's dream. One of the wonders of the world. From 1631 A.D., it took 22 years in the making. An estimated 20,000 people worked to complete the enchanting mausoleum, on the banks of the Yamuna in Agra.