Artistic and Allegorical Overview of the Taj Mahal

Introduction

Though monumental tombs had a long history in Islamic architecture in India, they were not a part of either the Buddhist or Hindu traditions. Numerous tombs were erected in India by the Delhi sultans, but the Taj Mahal at Agra was incomparable in magnificence. Shah Jahan, son of Jahangir, constructed the immense tomb as a memorial to Mumtaz Mahal, his beloved wife, though it ultimately became his tomb as well. The central block's dome-on-cube shape contains antecedents of earlier Islamic tombs and other Islamic structures such as the Alai Darvaza located at Delhi, but the refinements and changes in the Agra tomb's design transformed those earlier massive structures into a magnificent edifice of sparkling white marble. The Taj Mahal appears to float magically above the tree-lined reflecting pools that punctuate the garden leading to it.

Taj Mahal: An Overview

The Taj Mahal is considered the Mughals' greatest contribution to the architectural world, and as contemporary sources reveal, it was envisioned as such from the very beginning. In the words of Muhammad Amin Qazwini, Shah Jahan's early court historian: "And a dome of high foundation and a building of great magnificence was founded … it will be the masterpiece of the days to come, and that which adds to the astonishment of humanity at large." In the realm of Islamic structural design, this happens to be the largest body of fortresses constructed by a single patron (Koch, 2006, p. 128).

It was referred to as a "teardrop on the cheek of time" by Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Prize-winning poet. Eleanor Roosevelt, a celebrated world traveler, felt that the tomb's white marble "symbolizes the purity of real love" (Begley, 2011, p. 7). In the monument's famous spectacle — wrought over many years of labor at staggering cost — lies proof of Shah Jahan's great and enduring love and his noble commitment (Begley, 2011, p. 9).

This garden complex was constructed as a mausoleum for Shah Jahan's most beloved wife, who died in 1631 while delivering her fourteenth child — hence the romantic associations commonly attached to the Taj Mahal. It must be remembered, however, that Shah Jahan was also buried in the same tomb after being held captive during the last years of his life. The official name of the tomb — the Illuminated Tomb — an epithet shared with the Prophet Muhammad's tomb at Medina, suggests that Shah Jahan had always intended the Taj to be his own tomb as well. Just as the Prophet Muhammad was regarded, Shah Jahan perceived himself as embodying the Islamic theological ideal of the perfect man. The interior of the tomb is designed accordingly: the centrally positioned royal cenotaphs can be circumambulated just as is done at the shrines of saints in India, thereby signifying a connection between sanctity and royalty. Additionally, chapters from the Quran, Islam's holiest text, were chanted continuously within the structure, emphasizing its religious nature. The vast garden on which the Taj Mahal rests is intended to represent paradise on earth (Asher, 2009, p. 16).

Today, the Taj Mahal enjoys recognition far beyond its religious significance. The Mughal family, members of the nobility, and European travelers throughout the Mughal era and beyond all admired it; nevertheless, it essentially marks the conclusion of the tradition of constructing large-scale mausoleums. Today, however, it stands as the preeminent monument — for its size as well as its beauty — surpassing any other structure anywhere in the world. In recent decades, commercials featuring the Taj have promoted aged spirits, fine china, and luxury cruises, among other products. The Indian government has featured the garden tomb in glossy advertisements inviting tourists from around the world to experience its sublime beauty. Some have even sought to emulate it: the inlay work of the Taj Mahal inspired the bathroom of Doris Duke, a multimillionaire, on her estate Shangri La in Hawaii. A wealthy Bangladeshi filmmaker is reportedly constructing a replica of the Taj Mahal at a cost of 58 million dollars outside Dhaka (Asher, 2009, pp. 16–17).

Historical Overview

James Fergusson, the first European to write a history of Indian architecture, compared the Mughal tomb to the Greek Parthenon in 1876, noting that the Taj was an outstanding specimen of balance, embellishment, and architectural refinement (Asher, 2009, p. 19). Whatever its larger meaning, the extensive use of white marble was likely intended to evoke a sense of divine presence. During the period of the tomb's construction, white marble was used exclusively for saints' tombs and for structures intended solely for the emperor's use; its employment in this edifice therefore meant using architecture as a means of accentuating the semi-divine status of the Mughal emperor (Asher, 2009, p. 17).

The Taj follows the plan of Iranian garden pavilions, with the notable difference that the structure stands at one end of the garden rather than at its center. The mausoleum is octagonal in design and features Iranian arcaded niches on every side. Abd al-Hamid Lahori (d. 1654), a court historian who witnessed the building of the Taj, equated its surrounding gardens to Paradise and its minarets to ladders stretching toward Heaven. Carefully chosen Quranic passages have been inscribed on the entryway to the gardens as well as on the tomb's walls, confirming the historian's interpretation of the mausoleum's symbolism.

Those who came to regard the Taj as an inspiring work of art also embraced it as an object of popular culture, complementing the use of India's historic past in domestic advertising. From that point on, the Taj Mahal entered the wider public domain; advertising agencies worldwide featured it not as a mausoleum but as a representation of luxury and elegance — a home for the living more than a repository for the dead (Asher, 2009, p. 20).

Conclusion

The majesty and beauty of the Taj Mahal also manifest the glory of its earthly maker, who has undeniably been immortalized by it — though perhaps for complex and unintended reasons. The extraordinary construction projects undertaken by Shah Jahan throughout his reign clearly reveal his grand ambition and his evident desire to create a literal Paradise on earth (Begley, 2011, p. 35). It is the union of the sensuous and the intellectual that has made the Taj such an enduring and successful monument to this day (Koch, 2006, p. 147).

References

Asher, C. B. (2009). Belief and contestation in India: The case of the Taj Mahal. ASIA Network Exchange, XVII(1), 8–25.

Begley, W. E. (2011). The myth of the Taj Mahal and a new theory of its symbolic meaning. The Art Bulletin.

Koch, E. (2006). The Taj Mahal: Architecture, symbolism, and urban significance (pp. 128–149).