Taj Mahal, Agra

Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal “Crown of Palaces” in Agra India. Completed in 1648, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri of Persia supervised the design and had extensive personal involvement in construction. Architects included Abd ul-Karim Ma’mur Khan and Makramat Khan.

The famous white mausoleum is just one part of the 55.5 acre complex, an enormous sacred site dedicated to Jahan’s third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is a romantic gesture for Mumtaz, who died giving birth to their 14th child. But ironically it was their son, Aurangzeb, who arrested the Mughal leader shortly after the mausoleum’s completion and held him captive until his death. British invaders abused the site until it was restored in 1908.

Site Procession

The lotus flower a borrowed symbol that features throughout the site and crowns the top of the large onion amrud dome. To the Egyptians, it was a symbol of regeneration in the afterlife. Indeed, the entire layout of this Islamic complex follows Egyptian sensibilities.

A lively Taj Ganji shopping area begins the procession. This business center contrasts the worldly city with the spiritual otherworldliness of the mausoleum. It transitions to a grand gateway structure full of tombs of servants and prepatory rooms for the sacred journey inside. This includes a gathering hall for attendants, which references the organization of the Egyptian hall of Maat. The 300m2 Charbagh garden is divided into quadrants and alludes to the holy garden of paradise, with its fountains of life and cypress trees of the afterlife.

The mausoleum comes next in the procession and is flanked by mosques. The direction of this transition is unmistakable, as the site gradually slopes downward in steps toward the river. The water of the river suggests rebirth and cleansing in the afterlife. The tombs are actually located below ground at water level, creating a symbolic connection between the tomb and the river. The mausoleum’s domes are tipped with moon symbols, and it is the moon garden across the river that symbolizes the eternal paradise awaiting the family. This moon symbol is ingeniously mixed with the symbol for Shiva, the Hindu god of exaltation.

Symmetry

The Golden Mean is used throughout the Taj Mahal’s geometry. The large pishtaqs relate to the overall mausoleum according to the golden mean. The depth of the pishtaqs are in golden proportion to the distance from the pishtaq to the side of the building. This is also the width of the smaller octagonal chambers inside.

The base measures 55m across with chamfered corners. A large pishtaq gateway is centered on each side inside an iwan and is flanked by stacked smaller pishtaqs, which are related according to the golden mean. Atop a 7m drums stands the 35m dome, which has the same height as its length. It is flanked by smaller domed chattris, with guldastas beyond that, and minarets at the outside corners.

The minarets tilt outward as an optical illusion of vertical alignment from far away, much as with Greek temples. They are an important design element that imply closer for the overall building and make historical reference to circular towers in the four corners of various ancient temples. They symbolize the four corners or winds of the world.

The rational design for repetition and proportion in the building’s geometry incorporated advanced calculus and revolutionized the idea of symmetry. Each element establishes a realm of space in the grand procession and gives greater privacy to the more intimate and inward concentric spaces. The technical achievement of Ismail Afandi in building the large dome is only surpassed by his foundation structure, which used deep wells and packed them with stone.

Paradise

Calligraphy by Amanat Khan is found all over the walls of the building. It tells us that the tomb models the throne of God above the Garden of Paradise. An inscription on the southern facade on the main gate quotes the Q’uran:

“Come back to your Lord… And enter you My Paradise!”

The white marble of the edifice symbolizes purity and the light of the sun that revives the dead and inspires the living. Flowers, vines, and fruits carved into the stone emphasize growth in this heavenly garden. These symbolic symbols and the mathematical proportions of the building establish a language full of gender, sacred space, and emotion. The inlaid gems at the tombs further emphasize divine light, with the crypt’s inscription: