Taj Mahal
by Wendy Aron“Agra, India”
Built almost 400 years ago, the Taj Mahal stands in the city of Agra in northern India. Many consider the Taj Mahal the most beautiful building in the world, yet not everyone knows that it’s actually a mausoleum and that a tragic love story led to its creation This incredible confection of dazzling white marble was built as a tomb for the Indian queen Muntash Mahal. She was buried here in 1632.
Muntash Mahal was the favorite wife of Shah Jahan among the greatest of India’s Mogul emperors. Her name means the chosen one of the palace. Muntash as she was called became the affectionate Taj Mahal.
The streets of Agra are where Muntash Mahal and Shash Jahan are said to have first met, in the spice market which has barely changed since that fateful day. Legend says that it was love at first sight. They were both 15. For one day each year, so the story goes, the young aristocracy took over the bazaar and played at being shopkeepers and customers. He tried to buy spices, she refused. But he later inquired as to who she was. Muntash Mahal was a spice girl. She was also the niece of the queen, a suitable match for the young prince. Soon they were engaged to be married. They were married at the age of 20.
On the death of his father in 1627, Shah Jahan became emperor of India and Muntash Mahal, his queen. The name Shah Jahan means king of the world. At the age of 25, he became leader of the mighty Mogul empire, the super power of its day. From Russia to China, Shah Jahan ruled over the whole of northern India, Afghanistan and present day Pakistan. Muntash Mahal and Shah Jahan were inseparable, devoted to each other and deeply in love. She was the mother of Shah Jahan’s 14 children as well as his constant companion during 19 years of marriage. He often confided in her in matters of state and they were rarely seen apart. But fate would deal them the bitterest of blows.
In 1631, Shah Jahan was engaged on one of his many military campaigns about 400 miles south of Agra. Confident of success, he had brought his wife and her court with him. Muntash Mahal was heavily pregnant with their 14th child. When the time came, she gave birth to a healthy girl. But she herself grew weak. Shah Jahan rushed to her bedside. At the third watch of the night, Muntash Mahal died in the arms of Shah Jahan.
It was said that the eyes of the king of the world were flooded uncontrollably with tears. Within a few days, his beard turned white. Unable to let go, Shah Jahan dreamed of a way to immortalize his lost love. He decided to build the most beautiful tomb the world had ever seen in her memory. It’s said that over 20,000 of the finest craftsmen were summoned from all over the empire. After six months, the foundations of the Taj were ready. The body of Muntash Mahal was placed in a tomb at its center. And the building then completed over and around her. Artisans’ techniques used in Taj Mahal India are still in use today.
What creates the dazzling overall effect of the Taj Mahal is that every inch was covered with cut blocks of the finest white marble. It was brought from the quarries of Macranain Rajistan 200 miles away. Inlaid into the marble are designs of the greatest beauty and delicacy; tulips, irises, roses. The white marble of Macrana is still being cut and worked today just as it was when the grieving Shah Jahan was creating a building to the memory of his lost queen in Taj Mahal India.
Translucent gemstones were cut, polished and inlaid into the pure white marble. These included Carnelian from Iraq, green jade from China, lapis lazuli and sapphire from Sri Lanka, Jasper, malachite and turquoise from Tibet; and Aget and Amethyst from Yemen and Persia. There were 43 different gems on the tomb alone. Never before or since has such an extravagant monument been built by a man for a woman. Over the years, the romantic tale behind the Taj Mahal’s creation has grown, becoming one of the world’s great love stories. And there you might think the story of the Taj Mahal ends. But it doesn’t. In fact this is where the real story begins.
Only now has the mystery surrounding Taj Mahal India been unlocked. It’s a story of towering ambition and audacity. The first clue to the meaning of the Taj Mahal lies in its inscriptions, seamlessly cut into the white marble. The inscriptions are in Arabic and they are all verses from the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Many of these inscriptions refer to heaven. They describe heaven as being like a set of beautiful gardens which they call the gardens of paradise. In the inscriptions in the grand gateway, God promises entry into paradise as reward for those who have lived good lives.
So what is the meaning of the Taj Mahal itself? And what did Shah Jahan have in mind when he directed this project? Shah Jahan had a dream that the Taj Mahal was to be a great deal more than a magnificent tomb. The largest and most prominent inscription in the Taj Mahal is regarded as reflecting a promise by God that when the faithful enter paradise, they will see God seated in majesty on his throne. It would follow that the Taj Mahal itself can be seen as a replica of the heavenly throne of God. The magical dream of Shah Jahan was to have his very own heaven here on earth. The Taj Mahal’s true meaning may never replace the popular love story but that meaning remains just as powerful, concealed or not, because it’s probably what Shah Jahan intended. It seems appropriate for a charismatic building like the Taj Mahal to be reefed in the midst of legend, myth and fable.
