Taj Mahal (redirected from The Taj Mahal)

Taj Mahal (täzh məhäl`, täj məhŭl`), mausoleum, Agra, Uttar Pradesh state, N India, on the Yamuna River. It is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian Islamic architecture. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan ordered it built after the death (1629) of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The building, which was completed between 1632 and 1638, was designed by the local Muslim architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori; set in its carefully laid out grounds, it is a reflection of the gardens of Paradise to which the faithful ascend. The entire complex, with gardens, gateway structures, and mosque, was completed in 1643.

The Taj Mahal mausoleum stands at one end of the garden adorned with fountains and marble pavements. The garden contains four water channels to echo the four rivers of the Islamic Paradise. It rises from a platform 313 ft (95 m) on a side, bearing a white marble minaret at each corner; the enclosure, 186 ft (57 m) on a side, has truncated corners and a high portal on each side. The white marble exterior is inlaid with semiprecious stones arranged in Arabic inscriptions (designed by a local artist Amanat Khan, who was Shah Jahan's calligrapher), floral designs, and arabesques, and the salient features of the interior are accented with agate, jasper, and colored marbles. The roofing dome, on the inside, is 80 ft (24.4m) high and 50 ft (15.2 m) in diameter; outside it forms a bulb, which tapers to a spire topped by a crescent. The tomb chamber, with its two sarcophagi, is an octagonal room in the center of the edifice (the royal couple, however, are buried in an underground vault). The chamber is softly illuminated by the light that passes through double screens of intricately carved marble set high in the walls.

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Taj Mahal

Mausoleum complex on the southern bank of the Yamuna River, outside Agra, India. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631. The Taj complex, begun c. 1632, took 22 years to complete. At its centre lies a square garden area bounded by two smaller, oblong sections, one comprising the mausoleum and the other an entrance gateway. The mausoleum, of pure-white marble inlaid with semiprecious stones, is flanked by two red sandstone buildings, a mosque on one side and an identical building for aesthetic balance on the other. It stands on a high marble plinth with a minaret at each corner. It has four identical facades, each with a massive central arch 108 ft (33 m) high, and is surmounted by a bulbous double dome and four domed kiosks. Its interior, with fine, restrained stone decoration, centres on an octagonal chamber containing the marble tombs, enclosed by a perforated marble screen, with sarcophagi below. Regarded as one of the world's most beautiful buildings, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983. Steps have been taken since the late 1990s to reduce air pollution that has damaged the facade of the building.

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Taj Mahal

a white marble mausoleum in central India, in Agra on the Jumna River: built (1632--43) by the emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; regarded as the finest example of Mogul architecture

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Taj Mahal

fabulous tomb built by Shah Jahan for wife. [Ind. Hist.: Wallechinsky, 317]

See : Burial Ground

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Taj Mahal

fabulous tomb of Shah Jahan’s wife. [Indian Hist.: Wallechinsky, 317]

See : Splendor

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Taj Mahal

an outstanding monument of Indian architecture from the Great Mogul period; situated on the Jumna River, near Agra. The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan from about 1630 to 1652 as a mausoleum for his wife (the Shah himself is also buried there). One of the architects of the Taj Mahal was probably Ustad Isa. The five-domed building is approximately 74 m high at its pinnacle, with a minaret at each of the four corners. The walls are covered with polished white marble, decorated with inlaid semiprecious stones. A garden adjoins the Taj Mahal.

REFERENCE

Chaghtai, M. A. Le Tadj Mahal d’Agra. Brussels, 1938.