New Delhi: One of the most popular festivals in India, the Taj Mahotsav is being celebrated from February 18 to March 2 at Shilpgram near the Eastern gate of Taj Mahal. The carnival, which goes on for 13 days, is a vibrant platform to showcase the rich arts, crafts, cultures, dance, music, and cuisines of India. It can be said without doubt that the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful historical monument in the country which tells about the significance of Indo-Islamic architecture and represents its pinnacle. The Taj Mahotsav Committee organizes the Taj Mahotsav.
Located on the banks of the Yamuna river, Agra is a fascinating city steeped in history. It is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, marked by Ptolemy on the world map, and was the imperial seat of the Mughal Empire before Shah Jahan shifted the capital to Delhi. The architectural wealth of Agra is glorious, but its crowing jewel in the Taj Mahal, which is unarguably the most beautiful historical place in India. So much so that when UNESCO designated it as World Heritage Site in 1983, it described the monument as “the jewel of Islamic art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage”.
The construction of Taj Mahal: The land, and materials from all over the world
Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan loved his chief queen Mumtaz Mahal very much, a tale which has been told over and over in the Indian history. Hence, when Mumtaz died on June 17, 1631, during the birth of her 14th child, Shah Jahan was beset with grief. He mourned her for a year, and in 1631 itself, he commissioned the construction of Taj Mahal to house the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. The mausoleum’s construction was completed in 1648, but work continued on other phases of the project for another five years. It houses not only the tomb of Mumtaz but also that of Shah Jahan.
The land on which the Taj Mahal was constructed was present to the south of the walled city of Agra. It was Mirza Raja Jai Singh I, the senior most general and a high ranking mansabdar at the Mughal imperial court and also the Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Amber Kingdom who gave the land to Shah Jahan. In exchange, he got a large palace in the centre of Agra. Little did he know that the land he gave would harbour an architectural masterpiece which would inspire awe for centuries to come.
Taj Mahal: A contribution from different parts of the world
The construction of Taj Mahal witnessed the transportation of materials from different parts of India. Brick and lime mortar were mainly used to build the tomb complex, and white marble dominated the rest. Notably, it was from Rajasthan’s Makrana that the white marble came, while the red sandstone came from Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur Sikri. Many precious and semi-precious stones were imported from different parts of the world, with China contributing with jade and crystal, Tibet with turquoise, Afghanistan with Lapis lazuli, Sri Lanka with sapphire and Arabia with carnelian. Overall, 28 types of precious and semi-precious stone were inlaid into the white marble.
Even the artisans, labourers and painters and others, who numbered over 20,000, came from different parts of the world. From Bukhara came the specialist sculptors, calligraphers came from Persia and Syria, stone cutters from Baluchistan, designers from southern India, and artisans from Italy came for the construction. Overall, the monument, which represents the peak of the Indo-Islamic architecture in India, involved the contribution from different parts of the world and also India, making it as true representation of the architectural prowess of the medieval age.
The Taj Mahotsav, a vibrant 13-day festival in Agra, showcases India’s rich arts, crafts, culture, dance, music, and cuisine. Held near the Taj Mahal, it celebrates this iconic monument, a pinnacle of Indo-Islamic architecture built by Shah Jahan to honor his wife Mumtaz Mahal. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
