The History and Aesthetics of the Taj Mahal - Research Paper Example

Running head: Taj Mahal Taj Mahal Discuss the history and aesthetics of the Taj Mahal Taj Mahal, the monument to love, is located in Agra, India. It is a masterpiece of human creation. The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan in seventeenth century, in memory of his wife, Mumtaz. It is known that Mumtaz was the most beautiful women of those times and the most beloved for Emperor Shah Jahan And, this beauty and the Emperor’s love for his wife was brought back to life after her death, to remain forever on the Earth as a monument to love. The Taj Mahal is a complex structure including a mosque, a guest house, an enormous entrance gate, four minaret towers, and the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, all spread over three acres of land besides the river Yamuna close Delhi, the capital city of India. Efforts to create this masterpiece were enormous, and required about twenty thousand people working every day including skilled craftsmen, stone cutters, bricklayers, calligraphers etc; about 200 miles of marble was used; wagons of gems and stones from all over Asia and Europe were brought for its decoration (DuTemple, 7). The time and effort put into its creation has been a debate ever since research began because very few documents from those times were traceable. The Taj Mahal comprises of the tomb, decorations on interior and exterior walls, four buildings surrounding the tomb, and beautiful garden in the front. The Taj Mahal is based primarily on the Persian architecture including some parts on the Mughal architecture. The entire Taj Mahal is built of white marble with precious gems and stones. The tomb of Mumtaz is in the center portion of the complex structure, on a square-shaped platform. Petersen’s description of this center building includes many compartments with beveled edges on the outer side giving it somewhat octagonal shape. This structure has a large arch-shaped entrance and a huge dome on top with a finial. The enormous entrance is the ‘iwan,’ framed by a pishtaq containing Quranic calligraphy. This iwan, the main arch, is surrounded by four smaller iwans, two on the ground floor and two on the upper storey. The central dome is framed with four other large domes supported on piers between the lobed arches. The top of central dome and the surrounding domes are lotus shaped, both depicting a synthesis of Persian and Indian architecture. The central complex and massive structure is surrounded by four minarets, with two on either side. These minarets are about 42 meters in length, cylindrical in shape and contain two open galleries covered with domed pavilion (Peterson, 275). The pishtaqs and two-tiered arcades are said to be Iranian style (Renard, 27). The entire layout of the Taj Mahal is said to be following the Hindu vastu-canon, a science of architecture reflecting cosmological spatial significance (Tillotson, 104). The entire structure has calligraphy carved in different sizes, shapes, with different materials and different surfaces. One of the most renowned calligrapher was Amanat Khan Shirazi who came to India from Iran. The calligraphy is in thuluth script, a script in Islamic language, on inlaid black stone (Renard, 26). The finial was originally made of gold, and later replaced with bronze. This decoration points to incorporation of Hindu decorative elements into Taj Mahal. Even Mumtaz’s tomb was made of gold screen, and the posts and beams along with the tomb’s surface are studded with richest decoration containing gems, stones and diamonds. Tillotson (p.75) relates this technique of creating pictures by inlaying colored stones on a surface to that of European pietra dura. Fergusson remarked, ‘the beauty of Taj may not be of the highest class, but in its class it is unsurpassed’ (Tillotson, 97). The Taj Mahal is surrounded by beautiful gardens with two long pools, dividing the garden into east-west and north-south parts. The east-west axis contain large triple-domed buildings, one on east being the mosque and the other known as ‘jawab’ meant to balance the view. The design of garden is that of the Persian char bagh, meaning four gardens (Petersen, 274). The three outer buildings in the Taj Mahal complex are made of red sandstone, and are said house the tombs of Shah Jahan’s other wives. These buildings are also incorporated with columned arcades and domed tops (chatris). In fact, the columned arcades are characteristic of Hindu temples. DuTemple (p.9) points that historians referred to Mumtaz Mahal as the most beautiful creations of God, who also quoted, ‘the moon hid its face in shame before her.’ Such was her beauty at which the Emperor Shah Jahan had fallen years ago, and had waited five long years to culminate his love to the bond of marriage with Mumtaz. Completion of the Taj Mahal had taken more than a decade, or maybe even two decades. Exploring the Taj Mahal provides an experience of the intricacies detailed in its making and the love of the Emperor for his Empress. Tillotson describes the way both, Mumtaz and Shah Jahan’s cenotaphs are placed inside the central building. While Mumtaz’s cenotaph was placed in the center, Shah Jahan’s was placed beside it towards the west. This arrangement was meant to put Shah Jahan closer to Mecca and Mumtaz on her husband’s left, the side of his heart (Tillotson, 75). All humans that visit the Taj Mahal stand astonished at this masterpiece created by the Emperor for his beloved queen. The astonishment is related to many aspects such as its absolute outward beauty, enormous size, soaring artistry, skilled calligraphy, richness of novelty and quality, along with the reason associated with its creation and existence. In conclusion, the Taj Mahal, created four centuries ago is a wonder of the world, and is created through a blend of different artistry, architecture and beautification skills that relate different parts of the world where Islam thrived. The Quranic calligraphy depicts message by God, that of love and humanity. Its history and purpose spread the message of perpetual love demonstrated by its own eternity. Thus, the Taj Mahal is a universal monument to expression of love. Works cited DuTemple, Lesley A. The Taj Mahal. U.S.A: Lerner Publications, 2003. Peterson, Andrew. Dictionary of Islamic architecture. London: Routledge, 1996. Renard, John. Windows on the house of Islam: Muslim sources on spirituality and religious life. U.S.A: University of California Press, 1998. Tillotson, Giles. Taj Mahal. U.S.A: Harvard University Press, 2008. Read More