ARK404 LANDSCAPE

Historic gardens _MUGHAL GARDENS

 Early Beginnings
• The Mughals were the last
powerful descendants of the
Mongols; descended from
Mongol stock in Turkestan,
in the early 1500's they
engaged in the last series of
conquests to bear the Mongol
name. They were, however,
quite distant from their
original ancestors.

• The Mughals had become

Islamic, for the Middle Eastern
Mongol invaders had
converted to Islam long
before.

• They had also thoroughly

absorbed Middle Eastern
culture, especially Persian
culture (the Persian word for
Mongol is "Mughal," from
which we get the English
word, "mogul," meaning
"tycoon"), and their wars of
invasion spread Persian culture
throughout India.
• In this Mughal miniature , Babur is shown supervising the layout of the Bagh – I
Vafa which was his first garden building at Kabul in 1504, which, with its
enclosing wall, quadripartite division by water channels, and water tank,
displays all the typical features of the traditional Islamic gardens.
• Babur, first of the Mughal emperors, had little good to say about India. He wrote:
“Hindustan is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of social
intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius and capacity
none; of manners none; in handicraft and work there is no form of symmetry,
method or quality; there are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes, musk –
melons or first – rate fruits, no Hot – baths, no colleges, no candles, torches or
candlesticks….
Except their rivers and their standing-waters which flow in ravines or hollows
there are no waters. There are no running waters in their gardens or residences.
These residences have no charm, air, regularity or symmetry.”
• The garden tradition which Babur, the first great Mughal, was to carry to the hot
dusty plains of northern India is purely Persian in concept, enclosed, private and
quadripartite – the chahar bagh.
• Even he could not put such an unsatisfactory place in order, but he could
make himself a refuge within it by constructing a garden. This he did on
the banks of the Jumna at Agra. The garden today called RAM BAGH.
• Babur sought both abundant water and “order and symmetry”. The “lack of running waters” was remedied
by digging a well beside the river at the southwest corner. Persian water wheels were used to raise water for storage in a tank, and from
there it was distributed by the canals.

ORDER AND SYMMETRY

1. AXES OF SYMMETRY
• SYMMETRY ABOUT A POINT – Objects like waterwheels have rotational
symmetry about a point, a leaf has reflective symmetry about a single axis.
The number of axes of reflective symmetry about a single central point may
be multiplied indefinitely: a rectangle has 2, an equilateral triangle has 3,
square has 4, a flower may have many, and a circle has infinite number. Axes of reflective
Rotational
symmetry symmetry passing
• FOUR AXES OF SYMMETRY – The square char bagh has four through a point
sides, four canals, four quarters and 4 axes of symmetry.
If we elongate into a rectangle, its symmetries are reduced
to 2. Then, if we shift the crossing point toward one end, the
symmetry reduce to 1. Finally, if we shift the crossing off-
center, there is no symmetry left.

2. FRIEZE SYMMETRY – Regular repetition along an axis is

called frieze symmetry. The simplest version is when trees The four axes of The two axes of Bilateral
are planted at regular intervals along a straight path. symmetry of a symmetry of a symmetry
square char bagh rectangular
char bagh
Reflect the row of trees across the path, to form an allee.
Offset the two rows and you obtain third kind of symmetry. If the trees spread out to form an orchard and are regularly spaced at equal
intervals in orthogonal directions, a square grid results.
MUGHAL GARDENS

• Mughal gardens are also called as Gardens of Paradise.

• The word „Paradise‟ is derived from the Persian word – pairidaeza, signifying a royal hunting park or orchard enclosed by walls. It is not
outwardly expansive and space embracing, but rather spatially contained and inward focused.

• This mythical paradise is, in the Judeo – Christian tradition, a place where humans and animals enjoy a vegetarian bounty and do not prey on
one another. The Islamic tradition adds to this benign and secure environment, where the blessed enjoy fruitful ease, such sensory delights as
delectable food, wine, music, fragrance.

• A typical Mughal garden is a square or rectangle.

• The paradise image – a bountiful, geometrically
ordered, enclosed space in which water is
typically made to flow in four directions,
emanating from and sometimes returning to a
central source.

• The Quran, the book of divine wisdom derived from

the Bible, has four rivers emanating from paradise as
in genesis. The rivers are more metaphorical than
geographical, eternally flowing streams of milk and
honey.

LANDSCAPE CONCEPTS
• Achievement of a universal order that symbolizes the unity of God, forms the basis of all aspects of
creative work in Mughal art whether related to design of a building, a garden or a courtyard, resulting in a
complete identifiable organization, with all elements related to each other.
• Geometry, symmetry, shape, surface and even line, reflects a natural process, an inherent organization.
• Aim for clarity and legibility and so as to use of geometry forms the base. This search for order led the
Muslim artist to aim for clarity, legibility, resulting in plan, having strong basis of formality and geometry.

Mughal gardens can be classified in 2 categories:

1. Those surrounding a Mausoleum or a Tomb (on plains) known as TOMB GARDENS
The garden would be developed during the owner‟s lifetime, where the building at its focal point shall
possibly be used as reception or banquet, then converted in a mausoleum, after his death. Eg – Humayun‟s tomb, Delhi; Taj
Mahal, Agra; etc.
2. Those developed for Pleasure (on hills) known as PLEASURE GARDENS.
They were the terraced gardens used to entertain friends and family of the emperor. Eg – Shalimar Bagh,
Kashmir; Nishat Bagh, Kashmir; etc.
TOMB GARDENS
• The fourfold garden, elaborated by a grid of canals with chabutras at their intersections, remained a
constant form during 150 years of Mughal garden development. In the great imperial tomb gardens of the
16th century the chabutra at the principal intersection was transformed from a mere platform into the base of a magnificient monument.
• The Quran promises that the faithful shall dwell in a cool, fruitful paradise and gives details of the attractions that await them there. Sura 76
specifies that they shall “recline upon couches” and shall see “neither sun nor bitter cold.” Sura 47 describes “river of water unstalling” plus
rivers of wine, of milk & of honey. Sura 55 tells of gardens, green pastures, palm trees & pomengranates, and of “houris, cloistered in cool
pavilions.”
• The great Mughals built tombs within gardens constructed in the image of this promised paradise. During
their owner‟s lives these gardens were used as pleasure grounds, then after death they became entrances
to paradise. By this device the realms of heaven and earth were connected.
SITING & CLIMATIC CONSIDERATIONS
• Level terrain, on plains encouraged the retention of ‘Char Bagh’ pattern.
Terrestrial gardens, mostly located in hot, arid regions like Delhi and Agra
were enclosed by high boundary wall defining a particular space.
• These high walls, along with vegetation afford privacy and place of spiritual
contemplation. Outside the garden were barren landscape, heat and glare.
Inside was shade and vegetation symbolizing life.
• The tomb gardens are essentially flat with only the mildest grade change to
permit the gravitational flow of water throughout a grid of narrow water-
courses. Water collects in the square pools and octagonal basins placed at
intersections within the subdivided square grid that surrounds a central square platform.
COMPOSITION
• The shape of the garden is determined by climate, terrain and amount of land available,
as well as the personal desire of the owner working within the customary geometry.
• Symmetry, in the Islamic garden takes a bilateral or mirror like form.
• Plan of a garden is rectangular or square following the concept of ‘Char Bagh’. The
main axis is formed by a watercourse flanked by paths, bordered with trees and at
times, crossed by one or more secondary axes at right angles. These axes can be a
water channel or simply walk ways. Trees and flowers are located in different quadrants.
• A pavilion or other form of building is located at the center of
the garden, where the coolness of the water can be enjoyed.
The view is strictly axial, when seated in center. Within the
garden the views are guided not only from the point of entry
but in specific directions following axes, defined by channels,
pavements, etc.
• Task of the designers of the Islamic Garden is both to provide
those elements that give pleasure and comfort while reflecting
the Islamic Paradise Image, in keeping with Islamic precepts.
Clear definition of space and its orderly perception are among
the most noticeable characteristics of the Islamic garden.

USE OF WATER
• Part played by water in the
creation of place assumes
many forms. Water is an
element of continuity
throughout the length of a
garden. It leads the eye to the
main central structure. Water‟s
coolness guides the location of
pavilions, surrounded by tanks
and the spray of fountains, as well as the placing of thrones,
structures across the channels.
• Water moves in many ways, change levels, over chutes,
waterfalls, spurts into the air from fountains, bubbles up sprays, droplets, pattering on the channels. By
contrast, there is also the stillness of reflected lakes and quite pools.
• They borrowed from the Persians the idea of constructing canals and tanks in such a manner as to keep the water brimming to the level of
the paths on each side.
• Like the Persians, they also paved the shallow channels of water with brilliant blue tiles, which gave a
suggestion of depth, and reflected the blue sky in a deep blue tone. From terrace to terrace, the water was
led down the beautiful slopes called chadars.These marble or stone chutes were carved in various patterns, cut ingeniously at an angle
so that the water running over them was thrown up and broken into ripples and splashes.

USE OF VEGETATION
• Characteristics of all Muslim Gardens are the way in which their geometric symmetry is interlaced and
overlaid with the freedom of plant growth.
• Buildings, walls, arcades, axial pathways, steps, straight canals and parterres are in complete contrast to
the background of bushes, trees and free foliage. They set the context for the organic growth of the planting they define.
• Avenues of tall trees, Poplars, chenars to reinforce axial layout, evergreen trees to provide a backdrop are
often used in Mughal landscape designs.
• Trees grown for shade – Cyprus, Fir, Maple, Oak, Pine, Poplar, Spruce, planted in rows along paths,
bordering shrubs echo the geometric character.
• The design of the small plots along the canals and tanks was formal, and we
usually see octagons or star parterres which were filled with flowers, separated
by oblong beds planted with two orange – trees on the sides of a cypress.
• Bricks and mortar alone do not make a garden. It is the trees, shrubs and
flowering herbs which give life and soul to it.
• They planted mixed avenues of cypresses and flowering trees like the white –
flowered variety of kachnar (Bauhinia variegata) or the orange and lemon trees.
Bordering the square plots were pomengranates and oranges. Oranges,
pomengranates, almonds, plums and white kachnars are the symbol of youth &
life, whereas cypresses symbolize death and eternity.
• The Mughals mostly planted spring – flowering trees, shrubs and herbs in their gardens. They grew white,
purple and mauve iris near lilac bushes, daffodils and narcissi under apple and quince trees, and tulips
under pear and plum trees in their Kashmir gardens. In summer they grew roses, carnations, jasmines,
hollyhocks, peonies and delphiniums. Sometimes, the flowers of one variety were massed in a garden, thus creating a beautiful colour
effect.
 TOMB GARDENS

HUMAYUN TOMB

TAJ MAHAL
HUMAYUN TOMB

• Nasir ud din Muhammad Humayun (1508 - 1556), was the

second of the Great Mughal emperors who ruled India between
1526 and 1857 and his garden-tomb in Delhi is the earliest of
the grand dynastic mausoleums that presaged the flourishing
of Islamic architecture in India.
• The huge tomb at its centre houses over a hundred Mughal
family graves, and is popularly known as the Dormitory of the
Mughals
• Humayun‟s widow, Haji Begum, commissioned the construction
of his mausoleum in 1560, which is characterized by another
Mughal garden scholar, Elizabeth Moynihan, as being like a
cosmic mountain above the four rivers of paradise
represented by the garden’s four water channels.
• The tomb design is attributed to Sayyid Muhammad and his father, Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, Persian architects
and poets active in the Timurid and later the Mughal courts. They were brought from Herat by Haji Begum.
• The location chosen for the building on the bank of the Yamuna river adjoins the shrine of an important
Sufi Chistiyya order saint, Nizam al-Din Awliya. The Chistiyya was particularly venerated by the Mughals.
• Symbolically, the tomb-garden represented the perfect embodiment of that ancient ideal, the ultimate
paradise garden, with the emperor forever in paradise. Its large square enclosure, divided with geometric
precision, was the ordered universe. In its centre, the tomb itself rose above the four main water channels,
signifying the four rivers of the Quranic paradise, which seemed to disappear under the tomb.
• Sweet-smelling, fruit- and flower-bearing plants, fountains and pools of water, and birds kept within the
enclosure added further character to the garden.
• This tomb is the precursor to Taj Mahal.
• The Mughal tombs were of much grander dimensions than ordinary garden pavilions and did not fit easily
into the middle of a char bagh.
LOCATION
• Humayun‟s tomb lies in Delhi
on the Mathura road near its
Purana
crossing with the Lodi Road. AXIS
Qila
• The tomb is situated south of 8
the Purana Qila and on the 9
banks of river Yamuna, on the
eastern edge of Delhi.
• The enclosure of Humayun's
Tomb is entered through 10
majestic gateways on the 11
west and the south, occupies
13 hectares (30 acres). 7
LIST OF MONUMENTS LOCATED IN
THE HUMANYUN’S TOMB COMPLEX 12
3
1. Entrance 5
2. Bu Halima‟s Garden
3. Bu Halima‟s Tomb 2 4 6
4. North Gate of Arab Sarai
5. Afsarwala Mosque 1
6. Afsarwala Tomb 14
7. West Gate
8. Hammam 13
9. Baradari 15
10. Nila Gumbad
11. Barber‟s Tomb
12. South Gate
13. Arab Sarai Mandi
14. Isa Khan‟s Tomb The main axial approach to the tomb.
15. Isa Khan‟s Mosque
BU HALIMA’S GARDEN AND TOMB

• As one approaches Humayun‟s Tomb from Mathura

road, one passes through a rectangular enclosure with
a tomb in its Northern half and a gateway on its East,
which is in the same alignment as the main entrance
of Humayun‟s tomb.
This is the entrance of Bu Halima‟s Garden.
Nothing is known about Bu Halima and the origin of
the garden.
• It is doubtful, however, if the garden was originally laid
for this tomb, as the latter is not in former‟s centre, as
usual in garden tombs.

Bu Halima‟s Garden with what is believed to be her grave on View of the Eastern Gateway
the far right
ARAB SARAI

• This 14 mt. high gateway led

to the walled enclosure which
housed the Persian craftsmen
who came here for the building
of Humayun‟s Tomb.
• The gate is built of local quartzite.
• It is a big sarai (rest house)
containing arched cells against
its enclosure walls. Almost all
the cells are in dilapidated
condition. The only structure noteworthy is the northern gate, which is seen by the visitor on his right while
proceeding to the emperor‟s mausoleum after crossing Bu Halima‟s Garden.

AFSARWALA MOSQUE AND TOMB

• Within the eastern enclosure of the Arab Sarai lies a mosque on a

raised platform. Its prayer – chamber is faced by 3 arched openings,
the central bay being roofed by a dome.
• In alignment with the mosque to its north is a long dilapidated hall
with arched openings.
• At the south-eastern corner of the mosque on the same raised
platform stands an octagonal tomb with double dome.
• The tomb and the mosque go under the name of Afsarwala. The
identity of he afsar or officer who raised these buildings is not known.
ISA KHAN’S TOMB AND MOSQUE

• Isa Khan was a noble in the court of Sher Shah Sur.

• The tomb and mosque of Isa Khan Niyazi stands immediately to the
south of Bu Halima‟s Garden, which was built during his own lifetime.
• The octagonal tomb, pre-dating Humayun‟s Tomb by only 20 years,
has striking ornamentation in the form of canopies, glazed tiles, and
lattice screens.
• Along the western side of the enclosure, the three bay wide mosque
has a grand red sandstone central bay and striking mihrabs.
• Until, the early 20th century, an entire village had been settled in the
enclosure.

BARBER’S TOMB

• Within the compound of Humayun‟s tomb to its south – east stands

an impressive square tomb with a double – dome.
• It is not quite known who is buried inside it, although it is usually
referred to as Barber‟s tomb (Nai ka Gumbad).
• There are two graves inside it inscribed with the figure 999 which
may stand for the Hijra year corresponding to 1590 – 91.

NILA GUMBAD

• Outside the Humayun‟s tomb enclosure on the south-eastern side stands an impressive tomb of plastered
stone covered with a dome of blue tiles.
• Known as Nila – Gumbad (blue dome), it is believed to have been built in 1625 by „Abdu‟r-Rahim Khan,
Khan-i- Khanan, and is said to contain the remains of Fhim Khan, one of his faithful attendants.
THE TOMB 4

• It is sited on the banks of the river Yamuna, with the tomb

as its centrepiece, the garden is enclosed on three sides
by arcaded walls 6m (20ft) high.
• The tomb of Humayun stands in an enclosure measuring
357 mt. North – South and 350 mt. East – West.
• The grounds of Humayun's tomb are laid out in a char bagh
design, with water channels dividing the 30-acre site TOMB 3
into a garden of 36 identical squares, of which the 1
tomb on its terrace occupies the central four. ENT.
• There are two high double-storey gateways on the west &
south that lead to the enclosure. There is a pavilion in the
center of the eastern wall and a bath chamber in the center 5
of the northern wall. N
• The tomb is entered by a long axial processional path,
which has on its way great gateways offering views to the
superstructure. 2
ENT.
1 – Western Gateway, 2 – Southern Gateway,
3 – Baradari, 4 – North Pavilion/ Hammam,
5 – Barber‟s Tomb
• The building stands on 2 platforms, the second,
B B 7 mts. over the lower. In the centre of the
building is an octagonal chamber in which is
placed the cenotaph of the emperor. Eight
TERRACE
ancillary rooms surround the central chamber,
these 8 chambers are intended to evoke the
Ground and first floor plan of First floor plan of the Tomb paradise of Islamic cosmology.
the Tomb overlapped
• Each side of the high terrace is pierced by 17 arches, while the corners
of the structure are chamfered, giving the monument a pleasing depth.
At each corner, an oblique arch cuts the angle.
• The central arch on each side opens on to an ascending staircase. The
remaining arches open into cells, most of which contain subsequent &
subsidiary tombs. The floor of the terrace is paved with red sandstone
and contains a number of unidentified graves.
• Inside the ocatagonal tomb chamber rises through two storeys and is
surrounded by smaller octagonal chambers at the diagonal points.
These chambers also house a number of other
tombstones, making Humayun‟s mausoleum almost a
family one.
• It is a massive red sandstone and white marble pavilion,
raised upon a high, square platform, and surmounted by
a bulbous dome. Smaller cupolas, supported upon
columns, flank the central dome.
• The central chamber is roofed by a double dome, with
the upper dome essential for external aesthetics and the
lower dome used to improve the internal aesthetics and
acoustics. With the lower dome already over 25 mt. South elevation of the Tomb
high, its absence would have meant a large, dark void
on the ceiling rather than a gilded grandeur. The outer
dome is topped by a 6 mt. high copper finial.
• It was among the first structures in India to use a
double dome.
• The terrace of the tomb, as the corner chambers of the
tomb itself, has upon them, numerous gravestones.
These would mostly belong to the later members of the
Mughal family.
Section B – B.
ENCLOSURE WALLS

• A high enclosure wall bound it on the North, South and West

sides while the Eastern side, along the original banks of the
R. Yamuna is retaining wall.
• The centre of the South and West sides are articulated by lofty
gateways. This West gateway is now used as the main
entrance to the tomb enclosure. However, originally, the much
grander Southern gateway seems to have been the main
entrance.
• The mausoleum of Humayun and the enclosure-walls are built
of 3 kinds of stone. The walls and the 2 gateways are of local
quartzite with red sandstone dressing and marble inlay. The
red sandstone for the main building came from Tantpur near
Agra and was used with white marble from Makrana in Rajasthan.
• The northern, southern and western walls of the enclosure are of plastered rubble and are 5.8 mts. high.
The interior face contains recessed arches with pointed heads and the outer face is crowned with merlons
in relief.
• On the east or the river side, the enclosure – wall is just about 1.5 mts. in height, except for some 64 mts.
towards the south end, where it is again 5.8 mts high. Only this portion of the eastern wall is plastered, & it
contains recessed arches on both faces.
SOUTHERN GATEWAY
• This double storey gateway is erected
in the centre of the southern enclosure
wall. The inner and outer façade of this
gateway is very similar but only the
outer facade is flanked by arched
recesses.
• The south gate is a towering 15.5 mts.
high. It stands on a podium approached
by a flight of 5 steps. The ground floor
comprises a central hall, octagonal and
domed, with rectangular wings. There are square and oblong rooms on the
first floor of the gateway. The outer angles are adorned with octagonal pinnacles
topped with a lotus bud design. The gate is flanked externally by screen walls
with arched recesses.

• This gateway was evidently the main gateway of the mausoleum but now it is closed for many years. This
was used as rest house for the visitors.
• All the arched openings and recesses are framed with the panel of white marble on the surface of red
sandstone.

WESTERN GATEWAY
• The west gate, by which visitors now enter the tomb – enclosure,
also stands on a podium with five steps and is two storeys high.
It consists of a 7 mt. square central hall, with square side rooms on
the ground floor, and oblong rooms on the first. It is approached from
the front and back through portals 10.7 mts. high. The gate is flanked
externally with arched recesses and measures 15 mts. from the floor
level to the parapet. It is surmounted at the outer angles by small
chhattri pavilions, 1.5 mts. square.
NORTHERN PAVILION/ HAMMAM

• In the centre of the north wall of the enclosure, there is a 7' high platform,
61'3" east to west and 40'10" north to south, on which a square chamber
of 17'10" stands.
• In the centre of the chamber, there is an octagonal tank of 5'2" diameter
and on its north wall, there is an arched recess touching the ceiling of the
chamber. Upper half portion of this recess is having squinches and
stalactite designs and lower part is having again three rectangular openings,
middle is little wider than others.
• The back of the recess is attached to a well of 5-6' deep outside the
chamber and this well is further connected with a cylindrical big tank
measuring about 23' diameter from which water was lifted for further supply
to the hammam.
• The arched portal of the chamber is having two openings, the upper is just
an arched niche and lower is the main opening/entrance of the chamber
which is in rectangular shape and on the piers of this central iwan (below its
spandrel) there are two blind arched niches on each side.
This portal is also flanked by two blind niches of bigger size on each side.
The chamber is open from all the three sides except the north.
• On all the three sides, except north, of the platform, there are blind arched
niches, framed by the panels of white marble, and in the centre of its
southern side, the cascade is erected from which the water was supplied to
the water channels in the garden.
• Externally the chamber is simply treated with rubble and plaster. Except
outlets (parnalas), screens (jalis) and the spandrels of the blind arched
niches on the platform, no red sandstone has been used. Most probably the
huge hammam was meant for taking bath by the members of royal family
during the burial ceremony at this mausoleum and also for giving bath to
dead bodies buried here.
EASTERN WATER PAVILION/ BARDARI
• In the centre of the eastern wall of the enclosure,
there is a water pavilion having the central chamber
of 24'6" x 11 '10" in size.
• There is a small square tank in front of its inner
facade which was filled in with the water lifted from
the river Yamuna and then transported to different
parts of the garden through its water channels, tank/
cisterns, ponds, etc. for irrigation purposes.
• The eastern facade of the pavilion is facing the river
Yamuna having a varandah with red sandstone
columns (pillars). The pavilion is totally plastered.
• The details of sandstone columns and elaborately
cusped arches indicate that this pavilion is a later
addition, probably of the 17th century.

GARDEN AND WATER CHANNELS 4

• The mausoleum of Humayun is erected in the centre of a garden
laid on char-bagh pattern of Mughals, surrounded by eight equal
portions.
• The garden is divided into 4 parts by two bisecting water channels
with paved walkways (khiyabans) 14 mt. wide.
• With over 4 kms of water channels, several tanks, wells and
TOMB 3
fountains, water has a key element in the historic garden.
1
• In the paths, compacted and 4” thick layer of brick aggregate of
size 25 – 40 mm was laid over.
• If only the traditional four irrigation canals at the center had been
employed, the corners of the garden would have been left far from 5
N
any source of water.
• Each part of the garden thus became a miniature of the whole, with
its own 4 canals and stone platform at their crossing. 2
 4
• The causeways are provided
with stone edging, with a
narrow water channel flowing
along the centre which is 1‟3”
in width and 3” in depth.
• The intersection of the
causeways are emphasized
by rectangular or octagonal
pools, occasionally foliated.
• The inner boundary of the
garden around the first plinth
of the structure, is having square
ponds in front of the main facades
and octagonal shallow ponds in TOMB 3
front of the chamfered corners.
• Water was supplied to the canal 1
system from a well
located at the north gate. But
the volume of water flowing
from it would never have been
sufficient to fill large pools & Lvl. -5’0”
Lvl. +00
canals.
• Water entered the garden from 5
the North pavilion & also from
N
the western side. It is from these
2 points that water flows.
• Water shall flow in a West-East
direction and be collected in the
eastern sunken area in 2 sumps LEGEND 2
by gravity. – WATER – RECHARGE
• Water was also lifted from the – WELL – FOUNTAIN – POND
INLET PT. PIT
river Yamuna on eastern side. PLAN SHOWING WATER MOVEMENT IN THE GARDEN
The intersection of the causeways The inner boundary of the garden around the first plinth of the
are emphasized by rectangular or structure, is having square ponds in front of the main facades and
octagonal pools, occasionally octagonal shallow ponds in front of the chamfered corners.
foliated.

Water entering the canals from the North and West pavilion respectively. Water channels going towards
Water moving in many ways, change levels, garden from the fountain
spurts into the air from fountains, pattering on the channels.
Red sandstone with terracotta pipes are used.
VEGETATION

• Sweet smeeling and flowering shrubs like Jasminium,

Hibiscus, Harsingar, Chandnee, Anar, etc. were planted.
• Trees – Azadirachta indica (Neem), Ficus religiosa
(Peepal), Mangifera indica (Mango) and Polyalthia
longifolia (Ashok) could be seen in the garden.

Sandstone benches provided under the shade of

trees on the intersection of the canals so that
people can enjoy the beauty of the place.

View of the Western gateway from the tomb beauty of the place.
TAJ MAHAL
• Shahjahan‟s first masterpiece, the Taj Mahal, was built to the
memory of his legendary wife Mumtaz – I – Mahal, who died in
1631, only 3 yrs after he came to throne. This affected him
deeply. It is a silent witness of to the deep love of a great man for
a woman.
• The Taj Mahal is counted among the most beautiful buildings of
the world.
• Begun on the banks of river Yamuna in Agra the following year,
the construction continued for the next 16 yrs.
• The building is smaller than one anticipates, and the white marble
of which it is made brings it to life in a way in which the dead red sandstone of tombs does not, for the
marble reflects the sun and moon quite differently at all hours of the day and night.
• The Taj Mahal at Agra symbolizes the technical and aesthetic perfection of the Indo Islamic art of building.
• Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the chief architect for the Taj Mahal, was an engineer and scholar who worked on
many architectural projects for the emperor, including the vast palace of the Red Fort in Delhi.
• The monument and extensive formal garden complex cover 42 acres (17 hectares) and is enclosed by a
lofty wall.
• The Taj Mahal complex was concieved as an earthly
Paradise for Mumtaz and Shahjahan, in the form of a Agra
place of eternal rest. Fort
• Apart from being a grandiose sepulchre, it could be
R. Yamuna
interpreted as a symbolic substitute for the Throne of God,
placed by Islamic tradition just above Paradise, where God
TAJ
will sit on the Last Day of Judgement. MAHAL
LOCATION
• Taj Mahal is located in Agra on the banks of River Yamuna.
• Half a kilometer to left of the Taj is the Red Fort where Shah
Jahan had spent his last sad years.
PLANNING
• Taj Mahal comprises of 3 principle divisions:
 The SOUTHERN PART, known earlier as Mumtazabad 9 9
(now called Taj ganj) with its cruciform roads, gates (1)
and four inns (sarais), each containing a central court. 10 11
 The entrance to the to the tomb opens onto a quadrangular 8
FORECOURT (2) dominated by the great gatehouse (3),
flanked by the symmetrical courtyards (4) and tomb with NORTHERN
garden on both sides (5) PART
 The NORTHERN PART, these consist of the tree lined
canals (6), and a central fountain (7) articulate the
longitudinal and horizontal axes elaborated with flower beds
and shrubbery. At the far end is the tomb (8), with flanking
pools (9), a mosque (10), and a matching hall (11). 7
 The earlier Mughal tomb gardens straightforwardly
combined the 4-fold plan symmetry of the char bagh with
the infinite symmetry of a dome about its vertical axis and
the bilateral symmetry of the mausoleum. The symmetries 6
of the Taj, though, are more complex and subtle. The
garden and the mausoleum each have 4-fold symmetry
about their own central axes.

3
4 4
FORECOURT
2
ENT.

5 5
SOUTHERN PART 1
Taj Ganj is still bustling and colourful but a little less organised ENT.
 The mausoleum stands upon a rectangular platform, with its
minarets shifted to the corners; this ensemble has 2 axes
of symmetry. The whole composition is bilaterally
symmetrical about a single central axis, which also forms
the axis of movement from the entry to the reflective pool,
the mausoleum, and eventually the view of the Jumna.
• Flanking the tomb at the northern extremity are ponds, a
mosque, and a hall that preserves the symmetry of the plan
by its similarity to the mosque. With its central canal and
courts inspired by the char – bagh arrangement, the garden
provides a visual axis that culminates in the monumental
mausoleum and adjacent buildings.
 However, we don‟t walk quite on the axis, but to the side of the water, and the stairs up to the terrace go off
to the sides as well; conspicuous avoidance gives the axis added importance.
 Like other monumental Mughal mausoleums, the Taj Mahal is set within a charbagh, however, instead of
occupying the traditional space at the intersection of the garden‟s four principal canals, the extended
chabutra supporting the mausoleum was placed at the far end following the pattern to be seen at other
riverfront gardens at Agra. The intersection is celebrated simply by a small reflecting tank. This neat
sidestep breaks the connection between the size of the mausoleum and that of the char bagh.
• Within the grid layout, all buildings and spaces are systematically proportioned to achieve an overall
harmonious effect.
• Far more important than this gorgeous setting is the background of the Taj Mahal. In all earlier examples
the char - bagh has been used with Mughal tomb to provide it not only with a setting but also a
background. Here at Taj Mahal, the garden has been laid out entirely in front of the tomb proper with the
sole object of giving it a beautiful setting only. This garden does not play any part in the background of the
Taj Mahal which has, instead, been provided for by the sky. The Taj overhangs the river majestically and is
always seen with a blue sky as a backdrop. This background is not constant; it changes its colour and
texture more than often, and the Taj is thus always seen in an ever – changing and against an ever – new
background.
• As the visitor proceeds through the garden towards the mausoleum, the ever – changing colors reflected in
the long pool and on the marble dome of the Taj Mahal add visual splendor to the scene.
APPROACH
• The Taj Mahal approach has been devised marvelously. The aesthete is
not introduced into the Taj all of a sudden; he is gradually prepared for
that supreme moment. When he approaches near the site, he looks from
afar at the wonderful dome with the chhatris and minarets amidst a
cluster of trees towering gracefully over subsidiary structures. His
curiosity is aroused, his imagination gets stretched and the fantasies –
so necessary for aesthetic appreciation – flow out. He comes to the
outer entrance and, surrounded here by the red sandstone buildings all
around him, he stands aghast looking at the white marble Taj Mahal
which is visible beyond them above the parapet of the enclosing wall
amidst the greenery. Then, the Taj is revealed to him through the main
gate – almost all of a sudden, as a bride unveils for the first time. He
stands bewildered with an overwhelming feeling of beauty. The artist of
the Taj Mahal anticipated the fantasy of the moment in terms of the
approach and he manipulated it in a masterly manner.
BAZAAR GATE AND PLAZA
• The stair to the gateway goes up from the Plaza to a bazaar
leading to a central open area where various artisans who
worked on the Taj lived (Taj Ganj).
• When the Taj was first built, the Plaza doubled as an urban
square with its caravanserais, eating stalls and shops, and
access through its east and west gates for the transient visitors
with their belongings for use and sale, and requisite pack
animals. They could not use the Bazaar gate and stair.
• Then the door to the Maingate would usually stay shut, but local
residents could enter the Plaza for interaction with the visitors
through the Bazaar gate, or vice versa. So the furthest visual
relationship provided from the Bazaar gate was primarily with the
Mughals.

PLAZA

The Western entry to the

Tomb complex is now BAZAAR
GATE
used as a main visitor
entry.
MAIN GATE
• The framework in which the monument
is sited is equally important. The visitor
approaches generally by the main portal
made of red sandstone, a separate
building whose only function is to be a
gateway. In fact, for the inhabitants of BAZAAR GATE
Agra, access to the monument is made
from a succession of spaces, departing
from a bazaar square, which culminates
in front of the great entrance gateway.
The gateway leads to the gardens in
front of the mausoleum. The axis
prolongs the axial geometric effect. In
fact, one should follow this sequence of
approach in order to experience the
best effect of entering the complex.
• The way slopes down on axis with the Taj now and a point is reached when the apex of the small upper
arch in the Maingate lines up with the top of the arch in the Bazaar gate.
• The gateway leads into the symmetrical garden framing the landscape. An opening which is usually
vertical, has been placed horizontally on the ground, reflecting the sky and the monument itself seems to
float in the air.
THE BUILDING
• The marble mausoleum is supported on a masonry terrace, approximately 983 feet (300 meters) long, 367
feet (112 meters) wide, and 50 feet (15 meters) high.
• A square (with corners cut off) is divided into quarters by axial passages, and an octagonal space is
located at their intersections. Then each quarter is in turn divided by cross passages with an octagonal
space at the center.
• The water axes lead the eye to the Taj Mahal, which rises 280 feet
(85 meters) and is crowned by a pointed dome, 63 feet (19 meters)
high with a gold pinnacle.
• The tall minarets have been pulled away from the corners of the
building and set at the edge of the terrace upon which the building
rests, and this ingeniously enlarges the space occupied by the
building, while at the same time lightening its mass.
• Its sky-catching dome and minarets and the well – proportioned
central canal mirroring it in the water dematerialize its obvious mass.
• The mausoleum rises at the extreme northern tip of the garden along
the riverfront and not in the middle, as is the case with other Mughal
tombs. It confirms the importance given to the Char bagh in the
overall arrangement.
THE GARDEN
• It is at the Taj Mahal that the garden and
the water devices have been manipulated
most successfully to create the best and
the most magnificent architectural effect.
Like Persian gardeners, landscape artists
at the Taj attempted to translate the
perfection of heaven into terrestrial terms
by following certain formulas. In Islam,
four is the holiest of all numbers-most
arrangements of the Taj are based on that
number or its multiples and the gardens
were thus laid out in the quadrate plan.
Two marble canals studded with fountains
and lined with cypress trees (symbolising
death) cross in the centre of the garden
dividing into four equal squares.
• Each of its four quarters has again been
sub-divided into 16 smaller quarters with
broad stone-paved raised pathways. The
centre of the garden is occupied by a
raised marble lotus pond with a cusped
and trefoiled boarder. The tank has been
arranged to perfectly reflect the Taj in its
waters.
• The tomb structure has thus been
presented in an extremely beautiful setting
composed of a broad canal studded with
fountains, stone paved pathways, parterres,
cypress-avenues and flower beds. Central lotus pond canals and
central parterres Taj
• A clear, unobstructed view of the mausoleum is available from
any spot in the garden. Fountains and solemn rows of cypress
trees only adorn the north-south water canal, lest the attention
of the viewer would be diverted to the sides. This shows how
carefully the aesthetic effect of water devices and the garden
were calculated. The deep green cypress trees with their
slender rising shapes and curving topmost crests are mirrored
in the beauty of the immortal Taj.
• The char bagh is roughly 1000 feet square. The central canal
with parterres and paths alongside are 30 mts. wide.
• There are two walks on either side of the central pool, one is
narrow and probably for 1 person – the emperor alone –
adjacent to the pool for the cooling comfort of the fountain spray
on the hot Agra summer days. The other a few paces further
away from the pool, wide enough to take a group of people 6-7,
probably with the emperor in the centre.
• The plan‟s rigid symmetry is softened by cypress trees that
shade the approach to the mausoleum and by the fragrance of
orange blossoms, jasmine, and roses.

THE WATER
• The architect who was fully concious of the unaesthetic
appearance of the grotesque pur-rams and crude conduits,
selected the adjoining Baghkhan-i-Alan for procuring water for
the Taj-Mahal. A series of purs; (manual system of drawing
water from a water body using a rope and bucket pulled by
bullocks). Storage tanks and water channels could be built there
and abundant water could be brought to the Taj through
underground pipes without at all jeopardizing the aesthetic
aspect of the grand project.
• Water was drawn from the river by
a series of purs and was brought
through a broad water channel into
an oblong storage tank. It was
again raised by a series of 13purs
which were worked by bullocks.
Except for the ramps, the other
features of the whole water-system
have survived. An overhead water
channel supported on massive
arches carried water into another
storage tank of still greater dimensions.
Water was finally raised to this stage with 14 purs
and passed into a channel which filled three
supply tanks, built massively overhead the gate of
bagh Khan-i-Alam. The last tank had pipe mouths
in its eastern wall.

• The pipes descended below and after travelling

underground through the intervening corridor crossed into
Taj enclosure near the western water pavilion. One pipe line
runs directly towards the mosque to supply the fountains in
the tanks on the red sandstone plinth below the marble
structure. Copper pipes were used for separate series of fountains in the north-south canal, lotus pond and the
canal around it.
• There are no water chutes in the Taj Mahal. Instead the whole etheral effect has been obtained by
fountains which have been laid systematically in the main south-north canal. Five marble fountains have
been placed superbly in the raised central lotus pond. Another twenty four ornament this pond on all the
four sides.
• An ingenious method was devised to ensure uniform
and undiminished water pressure in the fountains,
irrespective of the distance and the outflow of water.
The fountain pipes were not connected directly with
the copper pipes feeding them as this would have
resulted in a gradual decrease in the volume and
pressure of the water. Instead a copper pot has
been provided under each fountain pipe-which was
thus connected with the water supply only through
the pot water first fills the pot and then only rises
simultaneously in the fountains. The fountains are
thus controlled by the pressure in the pots and not
by pressure in the main pipe. As the pressure in the
pots is uniformly distributed all the time, it ensures
an equal supply of water at the same rate in all the
fountains. This shows the great amount of pre- Water pitchers beneath the fountains
conception of the minutest details with which the Taj
is associated. The main supply of water was
however obtained through earthenware pipes.
• The original intention of the builders of the Taj was probably to present the composition as a whole without
being obscured from view. This is more than confirmed by the method with which the garden is irrigated.
Except for the outlets at the two extreme ends, the garden is irrigated by the overflowing of canals. The
north-south canal has inlets of water through fountains. The west-east received its water through an
interconnection with the north-south canal. Thus the quarters near the canals received an adequate supply
of water while the distant quarters got a smaller supply.
VEGETATION

• The quarters near the canals could be used for growing

flower-plants like roses, tulips, crown-imperials,
lilies, irises, marigold and others which would not
obscure the general view.
• The distant quarters on the other hand ware suitable
only for tall trees, preferably fruit trees like the
mango, orange, lemon, pomegranate, apple, guava,
pineapple, palm and others. This shows that originally
the Taj could be seen fully in all its perfect beauty,
without it being even slightly obscured as it is today.
• There is definitely no other monument in the world in
which the aesthetic considerations are so elaborate
and yet so determining.