The Taj Mahal (/ˌtɑːdʒ məˈhɑːl, ˌtɑːʒ -/ TAHJ mə-HAHL, TAHZH -; Hindustani: [taːdʒ ˈmɛɦ(ɛ)l]; lit. 'Crown of the Palace') is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1648, but work continued on other phases of the project for another five years. The first ceremony held at the mausoleum was an observance by Shah Jahan, on 6 February 1643, of the 12th anniversary of the death of Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around ₹32 million, which in 2015 would be approximately ₹52.8 billion (US$827 million).[4]
The building complex incorporates the design traditions of Indo-Islamic and Mughal architecture. It employs symmetrical constructions with the usage of various shapes and symbols. While the mausoleum is constructed of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, red sandstone was used for other buildings in the complex similar to the Mughal era buildings of the time. The construction project employed more than 20,000 workers and artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the emperor's court architect.
The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Islamic art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded as one of the best examples of Mughal architecture and a symbol of Indian history. The Taj Mahal is a major tourist attraction and attracts more than five million visitors a year. In 2007, it was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World initiative. The Taj Mahal and its setting, surrounding grounds, and structures are a Monument of National Importance, administered by the Archaeological Survey of India.[5]
Etymology
The name "Taj Mahal" is of Urdu origin, and believed to be derived from Arabic and Persian, with the words tāj mahall meaning "crown" (tāj) "palace" (mahall).[6][7][8] An alternative derivation of "taj" is that it was a corruption of the second syllable of "Mumtaz".[9][10] Abdul Hamid Lahori, in his 1636 book Padshahnama, refers to the Taj Mahal as rauza-i munawwara (Perso-Arabic: روضه منواره, rawdah-i munawwarah), meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb.[11]
The building complex incorporates the design traditions of Indo-Islamic and Mughal architecture. It employs symmetrical constructions with the usage of various shapes and symbols. While the mausoleum is constructed of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, red sandstone was used for other buildings in the complex similar to the Mughal era buildings of the time. The construction project employed more than 20,000 workers and artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the emperor's court architect.
The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Islamic art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded as one of the best examples of Mughal architecture and a symbol of Indian history. The Taj Mahal is a major tourist attraction and attracts more than five million visitors a year. In 2007, it was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World initiative. The Taj Mahal and its setting, surrounding grounds, and structures are a Monument of National Importance, administered by the Archaeological Survey of India.[5]
Etymology
The name "Taj Mahal" is of Urdu origin, and believed to be derived from Arabic and Persian, with the words tāj mahall meaning "crown" (tāj) "palace" (mahall).[6][7][8] An alternative derivation of "taj" is that it was a corruption of the second syllable of "Mumtaz".[9][10] Abdul Hamid Lahori, in his 1636 book Padshahnama, refers to the Taj Mahal as rauza-i munawwara (Perso-Arabic: روضه منواره, rawdah-i munawwarah), meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb.[11]
Inspiration
Shah Jahan, 17th century painting
Artistic depiction of Mumtaz Mahal
The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631, to be built in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died on 17 June that year while giving birth to their 14th child, Gauhara Begum.[12][13] Construction started in 1632, and the mausoleum was completed in 1648, while the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later.[14][15]
The imperial court documenting Shah Jahan's grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal illustrates the love story held as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.[16] According to contemporary historians Muhammad Amin Qazvini, Abdul Hamid Lahori and Muhammad Saleh Kamboh, Shah Jahan did not show the same level of affection for others as he had shown Mumtaz while she was alive. After her death, he avoided royal affairs for a week due to his grief and gave up listening to music and lavish dressing for two years. Shah Jahan was enamoured by the beauty of the land at the south side of Agra on which a mansion belonging to Raja Jai Singh I stood. He chose the place for the construction of Mumtaz's tomb after which Jai Singh agreed to give it to emperor Shah Jahan in exchange for a large palace in the centre of Agra.[17][18]
Architecture and design
Main article: Origins and architecture of the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal complex is situated on a platform on the banks of the Yamuna River.
The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Indo-Islamic and Mughal architecture.[19] Inspirations for the building came from Timurid and Mughal buildings including the Gur-e Amir in Samarkand (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty) and Humayun's Tomb in Delhi which inspired the Charbagh gardens and hasht-behesht plan of the site.[20][21] The building complex employs symmetrical constructions with the usage of various shapes and symbols.[19] While the mausoleum is constructed of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, red sandstone was used for other buildings in the complex similar to the Mughal era buildings of the time.[22] The entire complex sits on a platform measuring 300 metres (980 ft) in length and 8.7 metres (28.5 ft) in height on the banks of the Yamuna river. The platform is built with varying patterns of dark and light colored sandstone.[23]
Exterior
The eight sided main structure with large arched doorways and minarets on a square plinth
The mausoleum building is the central structure of the entire complex. It is a white marble structure standing on a 6-metre (20 ft) high square plinth with sides measuring 95.5 metres (313 ft) in length. The base structure is a large multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners forming an eight-sided structure that is approximately 57.3 metres (188 ft) long on each of the four long sides.[24]
The building has four identical sides with iwans (arch-shaped doorways), topped by a large dome and finial. Each side of the iwan is framed with a 33-metre (108 ft) high pishtaq (vaulted archway) with two similarly shaped arched balconies stacked on either side. This motif of archways is replicated on a smaller scale on the chamfered corner areas, making the design completely symmetrical.[25] At the southern side of the platform, facing the garden, there are two flights of stairs on either side which are partly covered and provide the only access from ground level up to the mausoleum building.[23]
The large onion dome topped by a finial
Finial, tamga of the Mughal Empire
The predominant feature of the mausoleum is the 23-metre (75 ft) high marble dome that surmounts the tomb. The onion shaped dome sits on a 12-metre (39 ft) high cylindrical drum with an inner diameter of 18.4 metres (60 ft).[26] The dome is slightly asymmetrical and is topped by a 9.6-metre (31 ft) high gilded finial.[19][27] The intermediate zone between the drum and the dome is supplanted by an ornamental moulding with a twisted rope design.[23]
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