Giles Tillotson and Ebba Koch Books - Essay Example

No: “Taj Mahal” (Wonders of the World) and The Complete Taj Mahal Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders and attracts tourists from all over the world based on its beauty and exemplary architectural designing features. Taj Mahal is described in its full excellence by the authors Giles Tillotson and Ebba Koch in their books, “Taj Mahal” (Wonders of the World) and The Complete Taj Mahal, respectively. The works are quite impressive because both the writers put forward their own styles of narration accompanied with historical details, pictorial representations and guidance on visiting the place. Koch’s book is a whole monograph while Tillotson’s book is a much shorter version of Koch’s book. However, the intrinsic qualities of both the works cannot be negated. In the book, “Taj Mahal” (Wonders of the World) by “Giles Tillotson”, writer elaborates the history regarding the construction of the “Taj Mahal”. Writer describes that the design of the Taj is the combination of Iranian, Afghani and Indian construction techniques while Islamic designs have also played an important in the overall construction. The doom and the minarets of the Taj are originally Islamic architectural techniques. According to the writer, Taj Mahal was constructed by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan around 1631 to 1653. White Marble is the main constructional element of the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan bought the location of the Taj Mahal from Maharajah Jai Singh and presented a vast palace in Agra as an exchange for the land. The foundation took about 12 years to complete while the whole Taj took about 22 years to get completed. Shah Jahan, built the Taj as the mausoleum of his beloved wife, “Mumtaz Mahal”. Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. He immensely loved his wife and decided to build a mausoleum as final resting place for his wife. The mausoleum has four minarets at the four corners of the foundation. Taj lies in the middle of the foundation. It has a single bigger doom. There are several rooms inside the Taj besides a wide-open place in the centre of the building. The foundation is about 5-6 feet about the surface. Wells were dug and then filled with stones to build the foundation of the Taj Mahal. White marble was used in the construction as the major element, while sapphire, silver and gold were used to beautify the structure. The beautiful gardens with lush green grass and trees and fountains enhance the mystical beauty of the structure. At night, the translucent marble of the Taj, shines and presents a beautiful scene. During the day, the sunlight tries to blend its mystical beauty, but remains unsuccessful. Taj represents a man’s true love for his wife. According to Tillotson, there is no structure like Taj Mahal and it is the most reputed because of its pictorial representations and architectural designing. Nearly eight thousand tourists take tour of the scene on daily basis. The write up by Tillotson appears as a guide to the place and its designing. The writer covers details about various personalities who participated in the construction of Taj Mahal, its architectural designing, its recent form, analysis of the building and maintenance. Mughal emperor Shah Jahan is stated to have a vision for designing, but as a warrior, he was quite cruel. He has in total fourteen children from Mumtaz who died in the delivery of last child. She lost her life when she was in an armed mission with her husband. As he loved her immensely, he was much aggrieved and with his return to Agra, he prepared for the construction of the tomb. As far as the information about the architects of Taj Mahal who were accountable for the resulting building, it is quite unknown, as no document proof or any planning statements left. On the issue of structural designing and architecture, different people belonging to diverse cultures claim it as their own and Tillotson says that everyone wants to own Taj as his own creation and says, “For a building that is supposedly a symbol of love, the Taj has generated a lot of anger (Tillotson 85). Hindus, Europeans and other people claim that such a construction is not possible at the hands of Muslims and it must be there construction. However, these claims appear quite ridiculous, as the building contains Muslim architectural designing features. The whole book composed by Tillotson appears as a guidebook through which, the readers can visualize the great Taj Mahal through their reading insight. The book also contains information about the surrounding buildings in Agra other than Taj Mahal and the writer gives detailed guide on how a tourist can reach Taj Mahal. Tillotson informs about the hype and unreal information about the history of Taj and also narrates the mythical information associated with its creation. Tillotson’s work is a descriptive guide on the tomb. The book is not just a boring narration of the architectural features and construction, but funny information associated with Taj. The writer makes the book a good read. Ebba Koch’s work, The Complete Taj Mahal is elaborative and rich in its descriptions of the measurements of Taj. Study of Taj Mahal by Koch is quite old as she has been busy in searching about Taj Mahal for nearly a decade. The writer scrutinizes about the setting of building of Taj Mahal from its origins. Taj Mahal appears as the heavenly residing palace for Mumtaz, Shah Jahan’s wife. The gardens in the palace are also described with full details. With the write up of Koch, the reader moves inside and outside of the whole area, notices the detailed constructional features of each building and mausoleum’s metropolitan placement, the symbolic meanings associated with the construction and its history from origin to current form. The book is quite rich in newly taken pictures along with drawn pictures of the tomb and attached buildings. These new drawings are contributed by Richard Barraud who has shown Taj Mahal, as it was in Shah Jahan’s era. There are maps, photographs, old and current illustrative drawings and modernizations about Taj Mahal that are exemplary features of the book. The photographs are colourful as well in black and white, but all of them are clear and eye-catching. The book also describes the stories connected with the architects, masons and other working people whose work is indicated by some of the leftovers of the people such as signatures or pointers. The book not only describes about Taj Mahal, but also connected buildings in Agra along with their architectural features. The book traces the history of Taj Mahal from its creation to its influence on the whole world because of its wonderful architecture and design. Koch moves in a sequential manner in describing the completeness of the Taj Mahal. The introductory pages are devoted to the historical knowledge about Shah Jahan, his beloved wife and other antecedents. She also notifies about Shah Jahan’s passion for constructing the tomb. Along with detailed features and story wise details, she also includes many pictorial representations that make the book unique. Koch’s book is a descriptive monograph and Tillotson has used Koch’s book as a resource for gaining knowledge about Taj Mahal and has also incorporated relevant knowledge. Koch’s book has historical as well as current descriptions of the constructed tomb. With the entitlement, The Complete Taj Mahal, the writer has given completed picture of Taj Mahal with nothing left to include. His account gives stories about all the involved parties. His account informs that Taj Mahal is not just a complex showing its dome and minarets, but one of those architectural buildings that can still be seen in excellent condition. Koch informs about Taj Mahal standing not just an architectural site, but also that represents culture, religion, ideology, intelligence and much more. The books inform about Taj Mahal and also connected buildings, but Koch’s book is a descriptive monograph while Tillotson’s book is a guidebook that can used for taking a tour of the tomb and connected buildings within very less time. Koch’s book sheds light on even the minutest features and symbolic representations of the constructed site. Tillotson has placed amusing and funny information in his book ridiculing certain claims by people regarding Taj Mahal while Koch develops interests of the readers by telling stories about the architects, masons and other people working on the site based on small marks left by people. Both of the writers seem doubtful about the architect or other people involved in designing other than Shah Jahan, but they are aware about the loving story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz as a result of which, Taj Mahal can be seen as an architectural excellence planned by Shah Jahan who had liking for architecture along with talent. Tillotson draws from Koch’s book much about the historic presence of the marvelled building, but his own style is unique in delivering knowledge about the tomb. The write up of both the writers is persuasive. One is more descriptive than the other, but they are catchy in making the readers read their works with complete attention and have a reading tour of Taj Mahal. Works Cited Koch, Ebba. The Complete Taj Mahal. Thames & Hudson, 2006. Tillotson, Giles. Taj Mahal (Wonders of the World). Harvard University Press, 2012. Read More