THE Taj Mahal in Agra, 204 km south of Delhi, the world’s largest monument to love, attracts some 20,000 visitors a day. No matter how much we anticipate, nothing prepares us for our first glimpse of the Taj. Our hearts flutter when we set our eyes upon poetry created in white marble.
Taj Mahal means Crown Palace and was built by Emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666), the fifth ruler of the Mughal dynasty and the grandson of Akbar. He built it in memory of his beloved wife, popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631. The emperor’s second wife died while she was giving birth to their fourteenth child. She was dazzling, intelligent and a valuable political adviser to her husband. She was also a model of charity, distributing food to peasants and coins to beggars. The Taj Mahal holds her grave and that of her husband. The actual graves are in a chamber below the floor — and that area is closed to the public.
Over 20,000 skilled craftsmen worked for 22 years (1631 — 1653) to build this tribute from a man to the woman he loved.
Materials were brought from all over India and Central Asia. Some one thousand elephants were used to transport the materials to the main site. Makrana, a top class white marble mined in Rajasthan, silver, gold and jewels, mostly imported from Persia and Turkey, were lavishly used to decorate a monument to beauty and love.
The master architect was Ustad Ahmed Lahori, the legendary Persian architect. History tells us that skilled craftsmen from Delhi, Qannauj, Lahore, and Multan were employed. In addition, many renowned Muslim craftsmen from Baghdad, Shiraz and Bukhara worked on other specialized tasks.
The centerpiece — what we know as the Taj Mahal — is in a laid-out walled garden entered through a door on the main axis. The tomb, raised on a terrace and first seen reflected in the central canal, is entirely sheathed in marble; the mosque and counter-mosque on the transverse axis are in the typical Mughal red sandstone. The four minarets, set symmetrically at the four corners of the tomb, are scaled down to heighten the effect of the dominant, slightly rounded dome. The central dome is 58 feet in diameter and rises to a height of 213 feet. It is flanked by four subsidiary domed chambers. The main archways, chiseled with passages from the Holy Qur’an and the bold scroll work of flowery patterns, give a restful and relaxing charm to its beauty.
Ironically, fate was cruel to Shah Jahan. A few years after the completion of the Taj Mahal, he was put under house arrest by his son, Aurangzeb. He spent the remainder of his life in the fort in Agra, across the river from the Taj and with his wife’s beautiful tomb ever in sight.
An interesting accompaniment to a visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra would be a visit to Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi. It was built by Humayun’s grieving widow in 1570, some 70 years before the Taj Mahal. Constructed of red sandstone, it marks the beginning of a new tradition of Mughal garden tombs which culminated in the Taj Mahal. India’s largest mosque, the Jama Masjid in Delhi, is also worth a visit. More than 5,000 workers toiled for six years to complete it. It was commissioned by Shah Jehan, the builder of the Taj.
Getting there:
Jet Airways offer good service. They offer attractive “Visit India” packages from many cities. Visit www.jetairways.com for more details.
Where to stay:
Magnificent five-star properties such as the Taj Palace Hotel (www.tajhotels.com), and the Oberoi (www.oberoimumbai.com), are well-known for their luxury and hospitality. In Agra, Oberoi Amarvilas (www.amarvilas.com) is an outstanding option. It is only 600 meters away from the Taj Mahal and guests can enjoy views of the monument from the hotel’s windows.
