Artist: Designer, probably
Ustad Ahmad; master architect, Abdul al-Karim; chief caligrapher, Amanat
Khan; (one of many) artists, Makramat Khan.
Title: Taj Mahal, Agra. Interior of the main building, cenotaphs of
Mumtaz Mahal (foreground) and Shah Jahan (behind).
Material: Marble and semi-precious stones
Site: Agra, India
Current Location: In situ
Period/Date: built 1632 - 1643, Mughal Dynasty under Emperor Shah Jahan
(r.1628-1658, d.1666).
Iconography/Iconology: The interior layout of the building represents
eight levels of paradise in Islamic cosmology. In the center of the octagonal
chamber is the cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal marking the place of her burial
in the crypt below. Because the emperor's cenotaph was placed off-center,
it has been often assumed that when the emperor died he was buried here
as an after thought. However, several other tombs exist in which the queen's
cenotaph assumes the central position rather than that of the emperor. Thus,
this may have been a Islamic royal tradition rather than a mere accident
of fate (Asher, AOMI, 214).
Stylistic Comments: The floral motif inlays on the cenotaphs, depicting
the flora of paradise, are of the finest craftsmanship. The entire surface
has been exquisitely polished to a high lustre in emulation of the Islamic
imagined richness of quality Paradise. The play of natural light (not the
photographic flash seen here) reflecting off of the polished marble assumed
a metaphoric role and was associated with the radience of God's presence
which was felt most predominantly in the garadens of paradise, the ultimate
destination of the faithful (Asher, AOMI, 214).
Asher, Catherine B. The New Cambridge History of India Architecture of Mughal India. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
