**WET - OMF - Applet - Michaela's Taj Mahal, Take A Good Look At That Moon:o))
~AJ~
In 1612, Arjumand Banu Begam, better known by her other name , Mumtaz Mahal
was married to Shah Jehan (then Prince Khurram), the fifth mughal emperor. This
marriage, although the emperor's second, was a real love-match, and Mumtaz was
her husband's inseparable companion on all his journeys and military
expeditions. She was his comrade, his counsellor, and inspired him to acts of
charity and benevolence towards the weak and the needy. She bore him fourteen
children, and died in childbed in 1630 (only three years after his accession to
the throne) in Burhanpur in the Deccan where she had accompanied him on a
military campaign. Overpowered by grief, Shah Jehan was determined to perpetuate
her memory for immortality and decided to build his beloved wife the finest
sepulchre ever - a monument of eternal love. It was Shah Jehan's everlasting
love for Mumtaz that led to the genesis of the Taj Mahal. The sad circumstances
which attended the early death of the empress who had endeared herself to the
people inspired all his subjects to join in the emperor's pious intentions.
After twenty-two laborious years, and the combined effort of over twenty
thousand workmen and master craftsmen, the complex was finally completed in 1648
on the banks on the river Yamuna in Agra, the capital of mughal monarchs.
The origin of the name the "Taj Mahal" is not clear. Court histories
from Shah Jehan's reign only call it the rauza (tomb) of Mumtaz Mahal. It is
generally believed that "Taj Mahal" (usually translated as either "Crown Palace"
or "Crown of the Palace") is an abbreviated version of her name, Mumtaz Mahal
(Exalted One of the Palace).
A green carpet of garden runs from the main
gateway to the foot of the Taj. In essence, it is a Persian garden, a form born
and nursed to maturity in the desert flat of Persia. Such gardens were
introduced to India by Baber, the first mughal emperor, who also brought with
him the Persian infatuation with flowers and fruit, birds and leaves, symmetry
and delicacy. Unlike other Oriental gardens - especially those of the Japanese,
who learned to accentuate existing resources rather than formalise them - the
Persian garden was artificially contrived, unbashedly man-made, based on
geometric arrangements of nature without any attempt at a "natural" look. Like
Persian gardeners, landscape artists at the Taj attempted to translate the
perfection of heaven into terrestrial terms by following certain formulas. In
Islam, four is the holiest of all numbers - most arrangements of the Taj are
based on that number or its multiples - and the gardens were thus laid out in
the quadrate plan. Two marble canals studded with fountains and lined with
cypress trees (symbolising death) cross in the centre of the garden dividing it
into four equal squares. The mausoleum, instead of occupying the central point
(like most mughal mausoleums), stands majestically at the north end just above
the river. Each of the four quarters of the garden have again been sub-divided
into sixteen flower beds by stone-paved raised pathways. At the centre of the
garden, halfway between the tomb and the gateway, stands a raised marble
lotus-tank with a cusped and trefoiled border. The tank has been arranged to
perfectly reflect the Taj in its waters. A clear, unobstructed view of the
mausoleum is available from any spot in the garden. Fountains and solemn rows of
cypress trees only adorn the north-south water canal, lest the attention of the
viewer would be diverted to the sides. This shows how carefully the aesthetic
effect of the water devices and the garden were calculated. The deep green
cypress trees with their slender rising shapes and curving topmost crests are
mirrored in the water while between their dark reflections shines the beauty of
the immortal Taj.
An ingenious method was devised to ensure uniform and
undiminished water pressure in the fountains, irrespective of the distance and
the outflow of water. The fountain pipes were not connected directly with the
copper pipes feeding them as this would have resulted in a gradual decrease in
the volume and pressure of the water. Instead, a copper pot has been provided
under each fountain pipe - which was thus connected to with the water supply
only through the pot. Water first fills the pot and then only rises
simultaneously in the fountains. The fountains are thus controlled by pressure
in the pots and not pressure in the main pipe. As the pressure in the pots is
uniformly distributed all the time, it ensures equal supply of water at the same
rate in all the fountains. It is really creditable that the planner spared no
efforts - belonging to art, architecture and engineering - to create a perfect
production without the slightest weakness, architectural or aesthetic.The main
supply of the water was however obtained through earthenware pipes. One such
main was discovered under the bed of the western canal. The pipe is 9" in
diameter and has been embedded in masonry at a depth of 5 feet below the level
of the paved walk. Evidently, the mughal water expert was a master of his art
and successfully worked out the levels in relation to the volume of water to
ensure its unobstructed supply for centuries. He anticipated no repair work and
therefore made no provision for it; hence the extraordinary depth at which the
pipe was sunk. The garden is irrigated by the overflowing of canals. The
north-south canal has inlets of water through fountains. The east-west received
its water through an interconnection with the north-south canal. Thus the
quarters near the canals received an adequate supply of water and could be used
for growing flower-plants which would not obscure the general view, while the
distant quarters got a smaller supply of water and were suitable only for tall
trees .
Photo: Eric Meola
Robbie
Robbie
"~AJ~" <a...@anywhere.net> wrote in message
news:OEy#IuUQCHA.2496@tkmsftngp13...
~AJ~
AJ
"Robbie" <robbi...@nospamverizon.net> wrote in message
news:#B9jl7UQCHA.2676@tkmsftngp10...
Cinmiester
Cindy
"~AJ~" <a...@anywhere.net> wrote in message
news:OEy#IuUQCHA.2496@tkmsftngp13...
The Taj Mahal
~AJ~
favorites.;o))
AJ
"Cinmiester" <cinmi...@ohmster.com> wrote in message
news:#tNKUGVQCHA.1996@tkmsftngp13...
Michaela
favorite applets.
M
"~AJ~" <a...@anywhere.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:OEy#IuUQCHA.2496@tkmsftngp13...
~AJ~
AJ
"Michaela" <michael...@m-de-sign.com> wrote in message
news:uSDigZVQCHA.1644@tkmsftngp08...
Michaela
M
"Cinmiester" <cinmi...@ohmster.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:#tNKUGVQCHA.1996@tkmsftngp13...
Michaela
M
"Robbie" <robbi...@nospamverizon.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:#B9jl7UQCHA.2676@tkmsftngp10...
joni
enjoy not just looking and listening, but the text
or poems she uses, too... this is a favorite of
many I'm guessing!!!
Thanks for sharing it, Aleeta!
joni
"~AJ~" <a...@anywhere.net> wrote in message
news:OEy#IuUQCHA.2496@tkmsftngp13...
The Taj Mahal
Michaela
~AJ~
fav's among many.;o))
Originally she had it in pink and I love pink, but I lost it I think anyway.
AJ
"joni" <joni...@nospamev1.net> wrote in message
news:esmAf5WQCHA.4216@tkmsftngp13...
Richard Eagle
beautiful applet post of Michaela's.
Richard
~AJ~
for it but I'm certain I had lost it.
AJ
"Richard Eagle" <re_e...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:#U5DINYQCHA.1676@tkmsftngp12...
Sandy J
superb creation of Michaela's!
Sandy
"~AJ~" <a...@anywhere.net> wrote in message
news:OEy#IuUQCHA.2496@tkmsftngp13...
The Taj Mahal
~AJ~
what's so neat about posting these.;o))
AJ
"Sandy J" <morni...@nospam.netscape.net> wrote in message
news:eWGgP#ZQCHA.2604@tkmsftngp12...
Michaela
Michaela
"Richard Eagle" <re_e...@hotmail.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:#U5DINYQCHA.1676@tkmsftngp12...
Michaela
M
"Sandy J" <morni...@nospam.netscape.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:eWGgP#ZQCHA.2604@tkmsftngp12...