Taj Mahal UNESCO World Heritage Site

Taj Mahal UNESCO World Heritage Site

TOPIC: Art & Culture

Section: Architecture

Context- There are no historical records to prove that Shah Jahan ordered the hands of workers to be chopped off.

Concept-

About the Heritage:

• UNESCO describes it as a “masterpiece of architectural style in conception, treatment and execution”.
• The Taj Mahal was conceived as An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
• The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden
• The mosque and the guest house in the Taj Mahal complex are built of red sandstone in contrast to the marble tomb in the centre.
• UNESCO states that several historical and Quranic inscriptions in the Arabic script have helped understand how the Taj Mahal was built.
• Masons, stone-cutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole empire and also from Central Asia and Iran to construct the monument.
• The Taj Mahal is considered to be the greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture.
• The entire structure is perfectly symmetrical with the gardens laid out in the Charbagh fashion with a concourse of waterways down the middle.
• The entire structure is raided on a platform giving it a lofty aura.
• The minarets are perfectly proportional and splendidly positioned at the corner of the platform and the fluted double dome and the now ubiquitous chattris are an example of artistic syncretism of the time.
• The pietra dura overlays on the walls signal artistic opulence and the Arabic calligraphy and latticework signal a refined and graceful structure of the entire edifice.
• The uniqueness of the monument has been attributed to the calligraphy.
  • This distinguishing feature in the monument was devised and supervised by a noble, Amanat Khan, who was originally a calligrapher from Shiraz in Iran and migrated to the Mughal court in 1608 CE.
  • Impressed with his work, Shah Jahan conferred on him the title of ‘Amanat Khan’ (like an heirloom) and a ‘mansab’, a land title that ranked with the nobility.
• The court chronicler, Abdul Hamid Lahori and the writings by Lahori’s son, Lutfullah Muhandis, two architects are mentioned by name: Ustad Ahmad Lahori and Mir Abd-ul Karim.
  • Ustad Ahmad Lahori had laid the foundations of the Red Fort in Delhi.
  • Mir Abd-ul Karim had been the favourite architect of the previous emperor, Jahangir.