Let’s walk through the Taj Mahal today.
I will take you on a pictorial tour.
A huge Darwaza surrounded by a wall guards the teardrop inside
On it is inscribed in thuluth calligraphy words from Surah Fajr
“O SOUL, THOU ART AT REST. RETURN TO THE LORD AT PEACE WITH HIM, AND HE AT PEACE WITH YOU.”
As you come closer it’s awesome majesty hits you
Everyone is as awestruck as we are!
Nothing can hide it’s beauty
From across the chahar Bagh gardens we can see the top of the masjid.
A mosque is often in mausoleums as prayers and recitation of the Holy Quran are said to help in redemption of the soul of the deceased
We come closer!
The minarets were made to lean outside in case God forbid they fall they don’t damage the #TajMahal
Perfection on the walls
Fleur de Lil
The Rauza e Munawwara as the Taj was originally called was envisaged as a Paradisical tomb set in a charbagh garden.
Like human imagination of paradise the Taj is made like garden of spring flowers.
Flowers adorn it in many shapes & ways
Indians were already familiar with inlay work the insertion of stone on stone in prepared grooves called parchinkari (Per)
The Taj Mahal didn’t just have parchinkari, but elaborate and intricate inlay work where precious stones were inlaid into marble to create beautiful flowers.
The tomb is set on a sandstone platform and then a marble one.
The mausoleum has a total height of 73m. It is placed on a base also in marble of 95,16m. Each minaret is 43m high. The dome, it is 17.70m in diameter for a height of the arc of 24.4m. It is a double dome for symmetry. The inner dome is much smaller & there’s a gap bet them
The domes appeared in Islamic architecture in 691. It was on this date that was estimated the construction of the Dome of the Rock, one of the oldest buildings of Jerusalem.
The Taj dome rests on a of 7m high drum often called neck of the dome
The domes appeared in Islamic architecture in 691. It was on this date that was estimated the construction of the Dome of the Rock, one of the oldest buildings of Jerusalem. (Pic10)
The entire width of the tomb is equal to the height, and the height of the central façade is equal to the dome.