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On the second urs on May 26, 1633 the mausoleum had taken
shape and the crypt chamber and the surrounding works accomplished.
Peter Mundy’s eyewitness account relates: “There is already
about her Tombe a raile of gold. The buildinge is begun and
goes on with excessive labour and cost, prosecuted with extraordinary
diligence. Gold and silver esteemed comon Metall, and Marble
but as ordinarie stones. Hee intends as some thinck, to remove
all the Citie hither, cawesinge hills to be made levell because
they might not hinder the prospect of it, places appoyntd
for streets, shoppes, etts. Dwellings, commaunding Merchants,
shopkeepers, Artificers to Inhabit (it) where they begin to
repaire and called by her name, Tage Gunge ‘Taj Ganj”. This
fabulous gold railing made of 40,000 tolas of gold and encrusted
with precious gems and diamonds, enclosed the grave lying
under magnificent golden constellation of orbs and lamps.
Shahjahan issued firmans to Raja Jai Singh ordering immediate
and constant supply of the Makrana marble for the tomb. An
inclined two and a half mile long road ramp was built to carry
huge marble slabs to the top. In absence of wood, the scaffolding
was of brick. The mausoleum rose higher with every sunset.
In nearly six years time the main edifice of the tomb was
complete. In the words of Ustad Ahmad Lahori, chief architect
of the project: “ And above this inner dome, which is radiant
like the heart of angels, has been raised another heaven-touching,
a guava-shaped (amrudi shakl) dome…..crowing this dome of
heavenly rank, he circumference of whose outer girth is 110
yards high flittering like the sun with its summit rising
to a total height of 107 yards above the (level of the) ground.”
The dome is crucial to Islamic architecture, cosmologically
uniting heaven and earth. The square of he edifice represents
the material universe, the dome symbolizes the vault of heaven.
The octagon stands for the transitional phase. Above the finial
is the region of transcendence. The whole domed structure
is thus designed as a replica of the throne of God in Paradise
where a gigantic white pearl dome stands supported by four
corner pillars from which flow the rivers of grace. The Taj
architects have prominently use the keel arch set within a
rectangle, repeating the shape everywhere “the gateway, niches,
windows, trellised doors, plinth, dome ornamentation and cusped
arches of he cupolas. To complete the image of Paradise the
tomb has been most lavishly ornamented with splendidly calligraphed
verses from the Quran.
The legendary gold railing was subsequently replaced by an
octagonal latticed screen (Mahajar-i-mushababbak) of the most
marvelous craftsmanship with an entrance fashioned of jasper
after the Turkish style, joined with gilded fasteners. It
cost 10,000 rupees but is the most splendid work of art, well
worth its weight in gold. It stands enclosing the two cenotaphs.
Humayun’s Tomb and the tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana in
Delhi had served as model for the Taj with their dome-topped
structure raised on a high platform. Akbar’s tomb at Sikandara
lent its dominant four-pillar design. Its splendid calligraphic
ornamentation by Amanat Khan inspired Shahjahan to entrust
the Taj ornamentation to the same artist. The tomb of Itmad-ud-daula
at Agra, built by Nurjahan for her father, had the most innovative
and grand pietradura decoration, a mosaic of exquisitely coloured
hard precious stones inlaid into the white marble. The lyrical
rhythm of the floral motifs had an amazing beauty which the
Taj greatly emulated. Nthe crypt and the cenotaphas at the
Taj carry pietradura decoration of a fabulous unexcelled elegance.
As percy Brown, the noted art historian observes, the Taj
pietradura “resembles the spirited sweep of a brush rather
than the slow laborious cutting of a chisel”. As many as 35
different types of precious stones have been used on a single
bloom-turquoise, jade, agate, coral, lapis Iazuli, onyx, bloodstone,
cornelian, jasper, garnet and malachite used to fashion blooms
of fuschias, lily, honeysuckle, etc. the ninety nine names
of Allah have been used to decorate the eastern and western
sides of Mumtaz’s grave in the crypst. In those days the cost
of the Taj worked out to 50 lakhs and the annual revenue of
30 villages was earmarked for the regular maintenance of the
mausoleum.
Unwilling to allow the native artisans all the credit for
this excellence Father Manrique in 1641 advanced the preposterous
claim of the Italian jeweler Geronimo Veroneo as the architect.
If ever this Italian jeweler was really commissioned, he was
overawed by the mammoth work and cost, and wisely ran away
to Surat in 1632 when the project was just begun. Shahjahan
had asked Veroneo, says Manrique, to spend two crores. The
jeweler who only designed necklaces and bracelets proved thoroughly
incompetent for the royal project and vanished from the scene,
escaping the Emperor’s ire but providing much mirth and chuckles
to the native artisans.
The Taj derives much of its charm from the sprawling garden
laid out in the Persian Char Bagh style. The fountains and
canals provide a grand reflection of the Taj, accentuating
the Paradise imagery. The Quran is regarded as the mirror
image of a tablet in heaven: the Tree of Life grows upside
down in the paradisical garden. The water image thus recreated
a divine inspiration. In this death-inspired monument rows
of cypresses lead the eye to the tomb in white marble standing
at the extreme end of the garden, rather than in the centre
as at other Mughal tombs.
The Taj mausoleum was nearly complete within ten years only
some subsidiary around 1643. Tavernier claimed to have seen
the commencement of work at the Taj- a falsehood. The Taj
had started in 1632. It did not take 22 years and twenty thousands
men for workers. In fact Tavernier first arrived in Agra in
1641 when the Taj was nearly finished. The mosque, guest house,
pavilions and the grand entrance gateway are splendid structures
in their own right. Later on the tomb of Satti-ul-Nisa, chief
maid of Mumtaz and later on of Jahanara, and the mosques built
by Sirhindi Begam and Fatehpuri Begam were added to the Taj
complex.
In 1652 Aurangzeb pointed out the leakage in the dome in on
the northern side. The garden also was water logged during
the rains. These defects were immediately attended to by Shahjahan.
There is no truth n the familiar tale that Shahjahan had the
hands of his chief architect chopped off to prevent, his building
another such edifice. Before he met his fate, this architect,
it is said, was allowed to take in the last look to ensure
perfection. At this moment he hammered the dome at the point
which caused leakage. This only adds to the legendary perfection
of the Taj in all details.
In 1648 Shahjahan had shifted capital to Shahjahanabad. He
already had the Peacock Throne and the Kohinoor. He never
remarried but his lust for life continued unabated. Bernier,
Tavernier and Niccola Mannuci provide salacious details about
the Mughal Emperors private indulgences, excesses defying
age causing fast deterioration of health. As prisoner in the
Agra fort during his last days, Shahjahan fell terribly ill.
His parched throat could hardly swallow a few drops of sherbat.
Nicola Manucci relates a tale that a faqir in Bijapur had
warned Shahjahan that the day his hands stopped smelling of
aples he would die. Shahjahan recalled the words and smelt
his hands. A sigh escaped his dry lips. He cast his last lingering
glance at the Taj from his bed in the Musamman Burj. His tired
eyelids closed on a shattered heart for ever. And so died
on January 31, 1666 “Abu’l Muzaffer Shihab-al-Din Muhammad
Sahib-i-Qiran-Sani, Shahjahan Padshah Ghazi son of Nur-al-Din
Jahangir Padshah, son of Akbar Padshah, son of Humayun Padshah,
son of Babar Padshah, son of Oma Shaikh Mirza, son of Sultan
Abu Sa’id son of Sultan Muhammad Mirza, son of Miraza Shah,
son of Amir Timur Sahib-i-Qiran.”
Jahanara planned a funeral procession befitting the grand
Mughal. The purse containing twenty thousand gold and silver
coins for showering over the bier was confiscated. She was
herself a prisoner hence she couldn’t order people. A small
number of insignificant menials carried the body through the
small Watergate to the river. Quietly Shahjahan’s body left
the fort he had embellished” the magnificent marble palaces
and pavilions. In the early hours of the day his body was
entered into the crypt. A rather poignant end for the fifth
Mughal Emperor. It is said Shahjahan’s favourite elephant
Khaliqdad sensing the tragedy also died as the burial was
in progress.
Nicola Manucci adds a spicy tale of Aurangzeb’s reaction to
Shahjahan’s death. Aurangzeb “sent a trusted man to pass a
heated iron over his father’s feet, and if the body did not
stir, then to pierce the skull down to the throat to make
sure that he was really dead. Orders were sent to I’tibar
Khan not to allow his burial until the arrival of Aurangzeb
in person.” Once Shahjahan had escaped Bijapur in a coffin
to reach Agra. The son remembered the tricks his father could
play. But court chronicles mention that Aurangzeb reached
Agra 25 days after the burial when all he did was to enact
a brief scene of simulated grief, and offer fake condolences
to Jahanara as a ploy to snatch jewels in her possession.
Only Tavernier mentions the beginning of another tomb for
Shahjahan, across the river. Historians and archaeologists
dismiss this idea. However, the foundations of a mammoth building,
deep huge wells on which stood plinth structures now exposed
due to erosion of land under water, and lone cupola at the
end of a long boundary wall replicating the Taj, are all too
evident of the abandoned enterprises. For once Tavernier could
be believed. His Majesty Firdaus Ashvani, (Shahjahan’s posthumous
title) was buried beside the Empress, the only asymmetrical
work at the Taj.
Now more than three centuries have passed and he Taj seen
by millions of visitors every year continues to retain a romantic
aura about it “so like a fabric of mist and sunbeams….a silvery
bubble… you almost doubt its reality.” Some women like Mrs.
Sleeman would exclaim” I would die tomorrow to have such another
rover me”. The Taj is still “the grand passion of an Emperor’s
love,” as Edwin Arnold wrote, or as Tagore said of the Taj”
one solitary tear… on the Cheek of time.” The subtle play
of light on the white marble dome creates its own moods to
which even the hardest cynic ultimately succumbs. Millions
and millions of photographs taken fail to capture the quintessence
of the Taj. From the riverside, the Taj looks a mirage, an
image floating on the lazy currents of the river.
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