Albers, A. Christina

OpenSIUC

THE TAJ MEHAL.BY A. CHRISTINA ALBERS.ON the plains of Agra and Oudh, where the Jumna sends heryellow waters seaward, there stands a building of marvellousbeauty, a dream in marble, a structure so lofty in its snowy whitesplendor, that it would seem the heavens had opened their portalsand dropped one of their mansions down to the earth. Unrivalledin design and workmanship stands this wonder of the world, defy-ing all that art has ever produced, finding not in all the lands ofthe earth its equal. "The Moghuls designed like Titans and fin-ished like jewelers," goes an old saying. And who seeing thisgigantic product of delicate marble carvings and graceful designsof inlaid stones,—but realises the truth of this saying.And this mansion of beauty is a tribute to the dead—a Mau-soleum. Under this canopied pall of marble slumbers in the lastlong sleep the beautiful Mumtaz-i-Mehal—the Exalted of thePalace,—the fair Queen of Shah Jehan, one of India's most famousrulers of the Moghul Dynasty. And beside her, placed there manyyears later, rests the mighty Emperor himself, at rest at last, fromstrife and warfare, released from "life's fitful fever,"—in deathnear her whom on earth he so fondly loved.Thus runs the legend : The Queen, looking forward to theordeal of motherhood, heard the child cry beneath her heart. Theworld, alas ! is short for them who hear the cry of the unborn in-fant,—the deathknell, forsooth, to the young mother. Known wasthe signal to the Queen, therefore she called her Lord to herchamber. Tenderly she informed him of the signal of death andenjoined him to bear up with manly strength under the fate thatwas inevitable."Many, my Lord, are the years," she continued, "that it hasbeen granted me to be by thy side,—years of imprisonment andsorrow,—years of honor and royal power. May then my soul de-530 THE OPEN COURT.part in peace, since now the Almighty has granted thee a kingdom.But ere the hour strike that the world will know me no more, grantme, my husband, two boons. Let no other woman stand besidethee as thy queen, lest children be born to dispute the rights ofthe sons and daughters I bore thee. And let thy Queen be placedin a tomb that excells in beauty all the world has ever known be-fore." Overawed by her words stood the King, speechless, tearsmounting to his eyes, and silently he granted the boons.True proved the oraculum ; for when the young infant wasplaced in his mother's arms the Queen expired, and the light thathad illumined the life of her consort for so many years, went outiiiitfThe Taj Mehal. (After a photograph.)for evermore as her life-breath fleeted hence. Unbroken remainedthe word of the King. Neither in his heart nor on the throne didever woman take the place of Arjamand, the beautiful. Buttroubled was he in mind, for where could he find the design of thetomb fit for the Queen who on earth knew not her equal in beauty?When, lo ! in a dream the heavens opened before him and showedhim the mansion he sought. Long was his struggle to find a drafts-man who could draw for him the plan, yet even him at last hefound.THE TAJ MEHAL. 531Eighteen long years labored the workmen to complete thistemple of art,—and to-day, after more than two centuries and ahalf after its completion, the Mausoleum stands as perfect andshining in its marble splendor as though it were erected but yes-terday. The King resolved to build for himself a tomb of blackmarble equal in beauty to the first, and have the two united by asilver bridge. But frail is the will of man against the powerfulhand of destiny. Incarcerated in a castle he himself had built.Shah Jehan, the marble builder, died a prisoner of state, imprisonedby his son,—the son of the mother for whom he had built the tomb.But such, alas ! is only too often the fate of kings.Interior of the Taj Mehal. (After a photograph.)On a raised platform stands the Taj, built of the purest ofJaipur marble, a lofty minaret towering heavenward at each corner.The aerial, unrivalled grace of its domes, the perfect symmetry ofthe whole, impress themselves on the mind of the beholder andmake him stand in marvel, while the marble has retained its pris-tine purity and shines in the splendor of newly-fallen snow when itdazzles under the rays of the sun.Silently we enter the sanctuary. It is here "the architectends and the jeweller commences." Fret-work of marble, exquis-532 THE OPEN COURT.itely carved and of rare designs grace the interior. On the walls,the ceiling, the floor and above all on the stately sarcophagi them-selves—everywhere the marble is inlaid with stone, delicatelyshaded and exquisitely graceful in its curvings. Smaller and smallergrow the designs on the latter, the nearer the top, till finally theyare barely visible. This is to symbolise the passing of life into theEternity beyond. And on the sides are engraven, in Persian char-acters, lyrics in praise of her who slumbers beneath this stone,written by the King himself to immortalise her virtues and herbeauty."Allah," calls the guide, a venerable follower of the Moslem,with flowing beard as white as the Taj itself. "Al-l-a-h" resoundsthe echo from the dome overhead for at least five minutes un-broken. Wondrous is this sound and wondrous also is the silencein this place. A prayer sent up in this sanctuary—thus have Iheard—will not remain ungranted.Surrounding the Mausoleum extends a beautiful park and fromthe colossal gate two paths of marble lead up to it, running be-tween which is a brook of crystal waters. The whole seems like adream, a vision not of this world, and peace reigns over the Castleof Sleep of fair Mumtaz-i-Mehal—the Exalted of the Palace.

The Taj Mehal.

http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1660&context=ocj

The Taj Mehal.

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

OpenSIUC