Teardrop of love
A.SRIVATHSAN
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An emperor’s expression of fondness, grief and grandeur, the Taj Mahal stands testimony to enduring love and architectural perfection.
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Grieving over the death of his beloved wife, Shah Jahan envisioned a fitting memorial to befit his love.
The Taj Mahal : An expression of love.
You allowed your kingly power to vanish, Shahjahan, but your wish was to make imperishable a tear-drop of love….
…. crowned the formless death with fadeless form
Lover’s Gift, Rabindranath Tagore (quoted from the 1918 publication by Macmillan).
Teardrop of love it is — Mumtaz Mahal, popularly known as Taj Mahal, was an emperor’s expression of fondness, grief and grandeur.
Shah Jahan, the favourite grandson of Akbar, was engaged to Arjumand Banu Begam at 16. Though Khurram went on to marry many more women, Arjumand was his favourite and the most loved. He called her Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved of the palace.
An emperor’s dream
Shah Jahan suffered immense grief when Mumtaz died at Burhanpur after delivering their 14th child. He envisioned a fitting memorial to befit his love and moved Mumtaz’s body from Burhanpur, where it was first buried, to Agra. Here again the body had to be buried temporarily till an appropriate site was found. Finally a site, belonging to a Rajput king, abutting the Yamuna was chosen and bought.
Construction started in 1632 and the tomb was ready in 1638, but the decoration and other work continued for another 10 years. Some historians think that the project cost was about five million rupees, while some place it at 40 million rupees and more.
To an emperor like Shah Jahan, expense was least of problems. He was keen to have the best and so summoned craftsmen from as far as Baghdad and Samarkhand. A grand double dome structure was built in white Makrana marble and was decorated with the best inlay work. The design was a synthesis of different architectural styles — Persian and Hindu. The tomb sits on an elevated platform commanding a grand view, while a garden forms the beautiful foreground.
Though some historians suggest names like that of Ustad Lahori as the architect, others think Shah Jahan himself directly participated in the design. Theories purporting European names as plausible architects of Taj Mahal have not found much support.
The emperor-lover spent his last years fondly looking at the Taj Mahal as a prisoner in his own palace. When Shah Jahan died in 1666, he was buried along side his wife in the crypt below the illumined dome.
Some historians think the architecture is too simple and ‘frozen’, but in popular opinion,
Taj Mahal has come to symbolise perfection as much as love.
Threatened!
It is widely believed that Lord William Bentinck, in the 1830s, wanted to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction the marbles. Fortunately it never happened. Some historians think that Bentinck, known for his strict cost-cutting utilitarian drive, planned to auction the marbles for their money’s worth. The story goes that when he first shipped the marble stripped from the Red Fort at Delhi to England, the auction was not a success. Hence any further sale of marble was considered unworthy of the trouble. In the process the Taj was saved.
If one thought this was a brief scare, the pollution caused by the industries near Agra pose a serious and prolonged threat. In spite of sustained efforts, litigation and court orders, protecting the monument has been an uphill task. The Government of India had earlier sanctioned about Rs. 600 crore and even set up the Taj Trapezium Zone Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority.
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