New Delhi: Shah Jahan was one of the greatest rulers in the history of India. Apart from being an astute general and administration, he was also a great patron of art and architecture and it was during his reign that the Mughal Empire reached its highest peak in architecture. While Shah Jahan constructed several notable monuments, the Taj Mahal remains the crown jewel of his legacy and also the pinnacle of Islamic architecture in India.
The Taj Mahal, an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the Yamuna river’s bank in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra, was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631 to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb complex includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
The death anniversary of Shah Jahan
The commemoration of Shah Jahan’s 370th death anniversary, also called ‘Urs’, started on January 26 and ended on January 28. The observation of the Urs begins with the offering of ‘chadar’ at his grave inside the Taj Mahal as per tradition.
The actual graves of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal
It must be noted that the real graves of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are situated at the basement of the Taj Mahal. The public can access them only three days a year during the three-day Urs of Shah Jahan. Throughout the rest of the year, people can only see the symbolic graves located in the basement’s upper section. The passage to the basement remains locked all through the year except those three days, a tradition which reportedly started since the Mughal era after Shah Jahan’s demise. Various committees join hands and organise this ‘Úrs’ on dates which are decided based on the Islamic calendar.
The chadar offered to Shah Jahan
During the Urs, as per tradition, the chadar is offered at his grave inside the Taj Mahal and this time also, the custom was followed. According to reports, Tahiruddin Tahir, one of the main participants of the Urs every year and leads the Khuddam-e-Roza committee involved in observing the Urs, said that around 43 earlier, his family offered a chadar which was 100 metre long at the grave of Shah Jahan. Since then, new pieces have been added to the chadar and it has gotten longer every year.
The chadar, known as the ‘Satrangi Hindustani Chadar’, is currently 1,640 metres long. Every year, 20 to 25 days before the Urs, people from all faiths contribute cloth to this chadar symbolising harmony. Claimed to be the longest chadar in the world, its length increases every year due to the additions of the pieces of cloth.
The 370th death anniversary of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan was recently commemorated at the Taj Mahal. This annual event involves offering a chadar at his grave, located in the Taj Mahal’s basement, accessible to the public only during the Urs. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
