TAJ MAHAL

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

• The Taj Mahal represents the finest and most
sophisticated example of Mughal architecture. The
distraught Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan
commissioned the mausoleum upon the death of
his favourite wife Mumtaz Begum.

• Today it is one of the most famous and recognisable

buildings in the world and the white domed marble
mausoleum is the most familiar part of the
monument.
• Taj Mahal is an extensive complex of buildings and
gardens that extends over 22.44 hectares and
includes subsidiary tombs, waterworks
infrastructure.

• Construction began in 1632 AD, on the south bank

of the River Yamuna in Agra, and was substantially
complete by 1648 AD

• The architects Ustad Ahmad Lahauri and Mir Abd-ul

Karim.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Plan of the complex

Guest House
Main
Ornamental Pool
Gateway Forecourt
Tomb

Taj Ganj

Yamuna

Char Bagh Servant Royal Tombs

Mosque Quaters

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Guest House

Tomb

Ornamental Pool
Mosque

Royal
Main Tombs
Gateway

Char Bagh

Servant
Forecourt
Quaters
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL
 The Taj Gateway
•Spread over a width of 150 feet and standing
tall at 100 feet, the Taj gateway is entrance to
a monument.
• Made of red sandstone, this storeyed
building is topped by cupolas or chattris.
Records state that this gateway was
completed in 1648.
•Decorated with the most sought after craft
in the Mughal times, calligraphy was used to
inscribe Holy Koranic verses on the walls of
the Gateway. • Crowning the gateway are twenty two
small ornamental chhatris , placed in two
lines of eleven above the main portal.

•As grand an entrance as this is, it was never

used by Shah Jahan and the royal party, as
they always arrived from the Agra Fort by
boat.
Inscriptions start at the bottom and but
miraculously look the same size as your eyes
travel up the arch
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL
 • The Taj is hidden by a massive red
sandstone gateway within this square
before the main entrance

Decorated in calligraphy with verses from holy

Koran.
 The original door of the gateway was made out of
the solid silver

•Gradual enlarging of the letters and their spacing

as they snake around the form of the arch.
•The result is seemingly consistent dimensions as
you read the holy lettering from the ground.
 Taj Mahal Gardens
•The gardens in the Mughal era were heavily influenced
by the Persian style.
•The Holy Qoran describes Paradise as a garden, so we
see that most Mughal monuments mostly always
accompany beautiful gardens, as a representation of
heaven.
•The Taj Mahal gardens are no exception and have been
designed in the "Chahar Bagh" style, that is, divided into
four parts, the number four being a sacred number in
Islam.

Water channels is provided by neat geometric paving.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL
• These main four parts are divided using water
channels, each channel joining the centre.

•At the centre, halfway between the tomb and

the gateway, where the four water channels
meet is a raised marble lotus-tank with a
cusped border called the "Al-Kawthar" that
signifies 'The celestial pool of abundance'.

Central tank of the Taj Mahal representing the

"celestial pool of abundance"

• The tank was so positioned that one can

perfectly see that Taj Mahal's reflection in
its waters.

•The four main garden beds are further

divided by paved stone walkways into four
beds each, making a total of 16 flower beds.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

The al-Kawthar - The Celestial Pool of Abundance

•The planner of the Taj preferred to add to the gorgeous view of the monument from the front
by providing these delicate bud-shaped fountains in the centre.

•This is the point where the two water channels intersect dividing the garden into four sections.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Taj Mahal Exterior

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL
 The dome
•The most remarkable part of the Taj
60 m
Mahal.
•Enormous white onion shaped dome
crowning the tomb.
•Located at the exact centre of the
structure, the main dome is flanked by
four smaller ones on it four corners.

•The drum
is also
intricately
designed
with
•The onion shaped dome of the Taj Mahal superb
sits on a massive drum that adds support inlay work.
to the circular top.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

•The weight of the dome was distributed to the building on which it was rested and then on to
the iwans and arches, from which it was transferred to the plinths and foundation.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 •The dome is actually double
shelled, and the interior false
dome was made much smaller
to be in proportion to the inner
chamber.

•This gave the building perfect

visual balance; extraordinary
from the outside and
comfortable small from the
inside.

Similar technique is used at St Paul's

Cathedral in London.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Finial of the Dome
•The main finial was originally made of gold
but was replaced by a copy made of
gilded bronze in the early 19th century.
•The summit of the gold gilded finial perched
at almost 220 feet from the ground, gives a
finishing look to the Taj Mahal.
• The motif is a Hindu symbol with bent lotus
leaves mounted on a "kalash" with a coconut
on top.

Decorating the summit of the dome is

an open lotus, over which is a gilded
finial.

Taj Mahal - Islamic inscription on the gold

gilded Finial

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Chattris
•The most prominent are the main four
chattris, which flank the four corners of the
onion dome.
•Having an octagonal base
•with small arches on each of the eight
sides
•The top is nicely finished with an inverted
lotus with a gold finial rising from its
summit.
•Chattris are also present at the tops of the
four tall minarets. Taj Mahal "Chattris" flank the main dome from four sides

Open lotus
ornamenting the
chattris

Similar Chattris on the

top of the minarets

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Minarets
•The Taj Mahal's minarets detached from
the main tomb
•Standing tall at 138 feet were intelligently
designed with a slant towards the outward
side.
•This was done so that in case of any
minaret topples, it causes no damage to the
central dome.

•These four minarets rise from the plinth with an

eight sided base and a circular pillar.
•On the top of the pillar is an octagonal balcony.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 •Decorated with delicate inlay work and
beautiful carvings.

•The balcony is encircled with geometric

patterns and floral motifs.

•It may have been built as a watch tower or a

place from where the "muezzin" calls for
prayers.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Iwans
The tradition of having iwans in both
residential and public buildings found their way
into Mughal architecture.
• By definition, iwans are vaulted spaces
covered by three sides and open from one.
•They normally have an ornate gateway that
was called a "pishtaq".
•The Taj Mahal's front facade is dominated
with "iwans", the main one lying just below the
onion shaped dome.
•There are eight smaller ones on the front face The Taj Mahal Iwan with an ornate "Pishtaq"
equally intricately designed.
•The monument has 28 iwans in all, with four
main iwans on the four faces of the structure.
•The other 24 iwans are identical in size with
four on each face and two on the angled sides.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Guldastas
•Even the smallest areas had design elements
like the "guldastas" that flank the exterior of
the Taj.
• "Guldastas" is the Urdu terminology for the
flower topped pinnacles that rise from the
main sides of the structure. These "guldastas"
are not originally Mughal, but were an integral
part of the Sayed architecture

They were added to the Taj Mahal purely for

beauty and lends the building a sense of height.

•Decorated with lotus petals, the guldastas are

topped with gold finials.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Tomb

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 taj
• The main tomb of Taj Mahal stands on a square platform that
was raised 50 meter above the riverbank. The four minarets
on each corner of this square are detached, facing the
chamfered angles of the main and are deliberately kept at 137
feet to emphasize the beautiful and spherical dome that itself
is 58 feet in diameter and 81 feet high. The western side of
the main tomb has the mosque and on the eastern side is the
Naqqar Khana (rest/guest house), both made in red
sandstone. The two structures not only provide an
architectural symmetry, but also make for an aesthetic color
contrast. One can only marvel at the mosque and the rest
house as despite being on the opposite ends, the two are
mirror image of each other.
 •The tomb is the central focus
•It stands on a square plinth
•It consists of a symmetrical building with
an iwan topped by a large dome and finial.
• Its basic elements are Persian in origin

•On each of these sides, a huge pishtaq, or • Multi-chambered cube

vaulted archway, frames the iwan with two •Chamfered corners forming an unequal
similarly shaped, arched balconies stacked on octagon that is approximately 55 meters
either side. (180 ft) on each of the four long side.
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL
 •The Taj Mahal is situated on a raised platform which is over 6 meters high.
•The actual Tomb of Shah Jahan is in the basement below the platform.
•Surmounted by a curving dome which is over 60m long on each side.
•Height is over 60m at its pinnacle.
•Platform covers 94 sq m area.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Entrance to the Mausoleum

Way to Cenotaph Rauza (tomb) in the

mausoleum

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 The Rauza(tomb) in the Mausoleum

The main chamber houses the false

sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and
Shah Jahan.

The actual graves are at a lower level

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Entrance to cenotaphs

The cenotaphs

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 • Surrounded by a marble screen, the cenotaphs
of the Emperor and his wife lie in the centre of
the room.

• Mumtaz Mahal's body was buried in the Taj

Mahal after her death in 1631;

• Shah Jahan laid to rest at his wife's side in 1666

after death

 Originally not planed for Shah

Jahan’s cenotaph

Which was added after his death

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Jali around the cenotaphs
• A protective octagonal screen made of
perforated marble panels, or jalis, with borders
of inlaid marble surrounds the two cenotaphs in
the central chamber.

Octagonal room

Each of the jalis, including the larger

doorway and north face, were carved
from single slabs of marble.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 The Interior
•Staircases lead to the upper storey that has
four octagonal rooms.
•The rooms also have balconies with jali
screens to allow light and air to filter in to the
chambers.

Balcony of the octagonal rooms on top floor

of the Taj Mahal

•All the interior walls of the mausoleum have

huge arches that have jalis to allow air and
Jali screens that allow light and air
light.
inside the masoleum
•The shining marble cladded on the walls are decorated with beautiful floral patterns using
carving and inlay work.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 • The inner dome is an umbrella
to the central octagonal room.

• Four rectangular rooms are

situated to the sides

• The inner layer of the dome,

like the exterior, is made of
creamy white marble.

•Three-dimensional geometric decoration

and a central inlaid motif highlight the
interior of the dome.
•Following the theme of light, the imitation
of the sun could be seen to symbolize Allah's
divine presence within the tomb of his
devout servant

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Ornamentation and Mouldings
•The Taj Mahal depicts elaborate carvings
with around forty three different kinds of
gems used.
•The carving at the Taj Mahal is done
using a technique called “manabbat kari”,
which essentially is a carving that stands
out from a flat surface.
•The manabbat kari process involves
drawing the flower patterns directly on
the marble with henna and then using
fine chisels to carve them out.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

Ornamentation and Mouldings

INLAY WORK

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 FLORAL MOULDINGS

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 FLORAL ORNAMENTATION

JALI WORK JALI RAILING

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL
Flooring Pattern

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 Calligraphy

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

Storm water management

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

WATER SYSTEM

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 The Mosque

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 The Mosque
•The tomb of Mumtaz Mahal has a
mosque or the "Masjid" to its left.
• Built of red sandstone, the structure
complements the pristine white
mausoleum.
•Spread over 210 feet in length and 90
feet in width, the mosque stands on a
raised platform.
•The front face of the mosque boasts of
one big central iwan and two smaller ones
perched on either side on the main one.
•The central dome is flanked by two
smaller ones on either side and the four
corners of the mosque have a chattri.
•Other design features include the
guldastas or the pinnacles that flank the
sides of the iwans.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

•The flooring of the mosque is
beautifully laid out.
•Giving a carpet feel, the floor area is
inlaid with red marble stone in the
pattern of prayer mats.

•The ceiling of the mosque has an ornate

display of beautiful geometric patterns.
•The white inlay work stand out splendidly
against the red sandstone background

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

View from the rooftop chattri (kiosk)

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL

 View from the Minaret

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III TAJ MAHAL