Introduction |
Taj acquires a different hue at different time of the day. You might have seen Taj 15 times but when you return back to see it 16th times, you will find it something different from the earlier visit. The Taj at noon, the Taj at sunset, under the full moon, against the setting sun, and against the rising ball of fire, each time the mausoleum acquires a different accent and tells a different story. It was a reminder of the love of a king for his queen Mumtaz Mahal who could inspire such a monument and also of the king himself who could sign his love across the horizon.
Whichever story it tells, there is a certain vulnerability, a softness about Taj Mahal that always touches the visitor. The white structure, actually nothing but a grave and yet so much more, stands unassumingly in spite of the yellowing pollution retaining a certain charm that takes the breath away.
The glory of Taj Mahal as seen today is considerably reduced. Historians and travelers have recorded a spectacle of grandeur and extravaganza when Shahjahan had built it. The beautifully laid out gardens holding out the Taj almost a thousand feet away from the entrance gate are said to have been beyond description. It is said that the gardens are modeled along the Persian Char Bagh style. Paved inroads divide the patches of green and little fountains and mark the two halves of the garden.
The Taj stands on a raised platform. At the entrance there are two sets of stairs, one leading to the real sarcophagus and the other to cenotaph counterparts. Rising on all four sides are minarets and in the center lies the magnificent dome over the central hall. The dome is crucial to Islamic architecture, cosmologically uniting heaven and earth. The square edifice represents the material universe while the dome symbolizes the vault of heaven. The Taj itself is octagonal and the base is said to represent the transitional phase. The finial, the golden needle at the top is indicative of the region of transcendence.
On the grave itself 99 names of Allah are inscribed and it is said to have lain inside a gem-encrusted balustrade. On it were placed bowls of jewelry, all of which together could still not match the beauty of the one who lay interred there. Persian carpets and sheets of silver for the door keep the silence in the mausoleum in splendorous solemnity. From the ceiling hung a glittering golden globe with convex mirror. While there were other chandeliers too, this was the most beautiful one and had come from Aleppo and it constantly wove patterns in the room.
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History
of Agra
