Built in 1632 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj Mahal has been known as a cultural, historical, and religious symbol for India. This sentiment, however, has changed over the centuries. Early romantics, in the heyday of romanticism, described the Taj as Shah's ultimate expression and devotion to his late wife (Begley, 1979). As a result, Shah's reputation as a highly devoted husband grew to the point that some claimed that he remained celibate for 35 years before he died. However, preposterous the claims made by historians, it is clear that the Taj is an impressive monument that has struck sentiments in every visitor.
There have been inconsistencies, especially with regard to Shah's romantic side and his devotion to his dead wife. Aldous Huxley, for instance, challenged this popularist view by saying the Taj was not a beautiful monument (Begley, 1979). This is understandable as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, Hermann Keyserling goes further in his criticism by describing the Taj as a purposeless work of art that might as well have been a pleasure resort than a funeral monument (Ahuja & Rajani, 2016). The final nail on the coffin about the romantic legend of the Taj was hammered in by Chandra Chatterji, who claimed that even if Mumtaz had not died, the Taj would have been built with Shah finding another excuse for its existence (Begley, 1979; Ahuja & Rajani, 2016).
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If taking the skeptical approach is the way of this paper, we might as well ask why the Taj was built for in the first place. To answer this, we can refer to the formalist theory that would lead us to the conclusion that the Taj has striking similarities with Shah's great grandfather, Humayun's tomb. Therefore, the Taj is an evolutionary continuation of the cultural practices of the then leaders building their tombs (Stinny & Mitchell, 1980). However, that is all the formalist approach tells us about Taj. There is nothing to shed light on its underlying meaning.
To do this, we can look at the significance of the Taj not just as the building but as the entire complex; especially it's garden when viewed from this perspective, the potential to see the Taj as more than a tomb, a potential that might eclipse its funerary function. The garden, as shown in the figure below, for instance, is an essential part of this other function (Koch & Barraud, 2006). Previous Mughals have always built their tombs at the center and surrounded by a garden. However, the Taj was built at one end of its garden, as if the garden had a larger significance with the tomb serving as a backdrop. The significance is unclear until we consider the inscriptions, especially at the south façade gateway.
Figure 1 . Taj Mahal's front garden
This inscription is thematic of the religious end of days where God's judgment will rain down on the wicked. It is at the end of the Sura al-Fajr that points to the faithful who will be rewarded by being permitted into the Paradise God promised them. The garden, monuments, and inscriptions, therefore, point towards the religious significance of the Taj is a replica of the Celestial Gardens. This imagery comes into special focus when we consider that the four water channels of the Taj's garden are symbolic of the four flowing Rivers of Paradise, as described in the Koran.
Figure 2 . Back image of the Taj Mahal
Despite the presence of paradise symbolism artfully replicated with architecture, it still remains to be said that the entire complex was intentionally designed and built after a humanistic perception of celestial abodes.
Figure 2 above, for instance, shows the Taj Mahal as viewed from the back. There is a fete of architectural brilliance here. When viewed from the gate, the monument clearly appears at the end of the garden, as if the garden is the final destination and the monument plays no role in the paradise it is. However, when viewed from the back and across the river, like in figure 2 above, the monument appears to be located at the center of the gardens, which is how previous Mughals built their tombs. Therefore, there is an interposition of interpretation. If you view the entire complex like the replica of celestial paradise it tries to be, then the gates support your beliefs. However, if you are an Indian conservative revering the monument’s cultural value, the view from the back still accommodates.
References
Ahuja, D. R., & Rajani, M. B. (2016). On the symmetry of the central dome of the Taj Mahal. Current Science , 996-999.
Begley, W. E. (1979). The myth of the Taj Mahal and a new theory of its symbolic meaning. The Art Bulletin , 61 (1), 7-37.
Koch, E., & Barraud, R. A. (2006). The complete Taj Mahal: and the riverfront gardens of Agra . London: Thames & Hudson.
Stiny, G., & Mitchell, W. J. (1980). The grammar of paradise: on the generation of Mughul gardens. Environment and planning B: Planning and design , 7 (2), 209-226.
