1. The Taj Mahal And The Red Fort Mughal Building Achievements

2. Mughal Building Achievements Taj Mahal –“The Taj Mahal, mausoleum of the mughal Empress Mumtaz Mahal, is synonymous with India. Its curving, gently swelling dome and the square base upon which its rests so lightly is a familiar image from hundreds of brochures and travel books. The Taj is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular buildings of the world. Renowned for its architectural magnificence and aesthetic beauty, it counts among man's proudest creations and is invariably included in the list of the world's foremost wonders. As a tomb, it has no match upon earth, for mortal remains have never been housed in greater grandeur.”

3. Mughal Building Achievements Taj Mahal: Historical Significance –Shah Jahan the fifth mughal emperor built it as a burial place for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal –the complex was finally completed in 1648 on the banks on the river Yamuna in Agra, the capital of mughal monarchs.

4. Mughal Building Achievements Taj Mahal Agra

5. Mughal Building Achievements Taj Mahal –The burial is a part of a vast complex of building structures: 5 Structures that make up the Taj Mahal complex: main gateway, garden, a mosque and a prayer house, outer enclosures and enclosing walls –Took 23 years t build and over 20,000 workers!

6. Mughal Building Achievements Taj Mahal

7. Mughal Building Achievements Taj Mahal: Main Gateway –In this courtyard stand the main gateway to the Taj and its gardens, a massive portal –Symbolically to the Muslim, such an entrance way was the gate to paradise. –Made of red sandstone, this 150 ft. wide and nearly 100 ft. high, gateway consists of a lofty central arch with double storied wings on either side. Octagonal towers are attached to its corners which are surmounted by broad impressive open domed kiosks.

8. Mughal Building Achievements The Gardens: –A garden runs from the main gateway to the Taj. In essence, it is a Persian garden. Such gardens were introduced to India by Baber –A clear, view of the mausoleum is available from any spot in the garden

9. Mughal Building Achievements The Mosque –On either side of the Taj Mahal are two identical buildings of red sandstone. The one to the west is a Mosque. –It faces towards Mecca and is used for prayer –The platform in front of the Mosque is of red sandstone –All over there is exquisite calligraphy and the name Allah and quotations from scriptures inscribed. –The roof supports four octagonal towers and three elegant domes.

10. Mughal Building Achievements The Mosque

11. Mughal Building Achievements The Rest House –On the east side of the Taj stands the twin of the Mosque, the Rest House, a parallel structure also made of red sandstone. –Because it faced away from the Mecca, it was never used for prayer. –Why there? the theory says its purpose was purely architectural, to counterbalance the Mosque and preserve the symmetry of the entire design on the platform.

12. Mughal Building Achievements The Rest House

13. Mughal Building Achievements The Tomb –Rises almost 200 ft. (76m.) in height –A bulbous white double-dome majestically crowns the Taj. –The tomb stands on its own marble plinth –Four tall minarets rise up from the corners of the white marble plinth 138 ft tall. –The marble mausoleum is square in plan –The Taj Mahal is entered through the portal on the south side –Inside, two stories of eight rooms (four rectangular rooms on the sides and four octagonal small rooms at the corners) surround a central chamber. –In the center is the tomb of the queen and to one side is the that of the emperor

14. Mughal Building Achievements The Tomb:

15. Mughal Building Achievements Ornamentation: –Pietra Dura Inlay: thin sections of precisely carved hard and semi-hard gemstones are laid in sockets specially prepared in the surface of marble

16. Mughal Building Achievements Ornamentation: –Hard Stone Carving: technique of carving white marble

17. Mughal Building Achievements Ornamentation: –Calligraphy: They are chiefly verses from the Koran. Over the main gateway, in the Mosque and the tomb proper

18. Mughal Building Achievements Ornamentation: –Incised Painting: A thin layer of colour pigment is laid over the white plaster surface. A floral or conventional design is then drawn on the color surface, according to which the color surface is scrapped off, thus exposing the white plaster underneath, now seen only through the scrapped off design. It is thus 'incised painting'.

19. Mughal Building Achievements The Red Fort: –Mughal palace architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Red Fort at Agra. –Many different architects who each worked on only a small portion of the whole. –Made of red sandstone that gives the fortress its name. –The Red Fort began its life in the 10th century as a simple mud and brick fortress along the banks of the Yamuna river. Under Akbar (1564-1570s) of the Mughal dynasty it was rebuilt. –partially converted into a palace during the reign of Shah Jahan, who lived in the fortress and died there - a prisoner of his own son. –The outer walls, built during Akbar's time, are penetrated by two gates, called the Amar Singh and the Delhi gate respectively.

20. Mughal Building Achievements The Red Fort: –Plan: –The Red Fort was the palace for Shah Jahan's new capital, Shahjahanabad

21. Mughal Building Achievements Red Fort

22. Mughal Building Achievements Red Fort –The Red Fort is enclosed by nearly 2 1/2 km of battlement walls which vary in height from 18.5 m (60ft) at its highest watch towers on the river side to 33m on the city side and is surrounded by a 9m deep moat.

23. Mughal Building Achievements Red Fort –This sandstone citadel encompasses grand audience halls, marble palaces ornamented with exquisite pietra dura once embedded with precious stones, a market place where the royalty used to shop, a mosque, gardens with marbled fountains, plazas, baths etc