Ebba Koch is a world-famous Architecture and Art Historian.  She is a professor at the Institute of Art History in Vienna, Austria and is a senior researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Koch is recognized as an authority on the architecture, art, and culture of the Mughal Empire in India. In 2001, she became the architectural adviser to the Taj Mahal Conservation Collaborative. She visits India often to lecture about the Taj Mahal, a jewel among the world’s heritage sites and one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Her book “The Complete Taj Mahal” is recognized as an authoritative documentation on this famous monument of love!

(A Valentine’s Day Special)

By Vimla Patil

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The Taj Mahal, standing majestically on the banks of the River Yamuna in Agra, is known all over the world as the ultimate tribute to the romance between Emperor Shah Jehan and his beloved queen Mumtaz Mahal. Ebba Koch, professor of Asian Art in the Department of Art History at the University of Vienna, Austria, researched the architecture and history of this monument – considered one of the seven wonders of the modern world – for more than 10 years! She has come up with some breathtakingly fresh insights into its past and present…

“My book The Complete Taj Mahal takes the art and archeology lovers all over the world through a many-splendoured journey into and around this world-famous monument to love,” says Ebba Koch, professor of Asian Art in the Department of Art History at the University of Vienna, Austria, “The pictorial journey that I offer in this book is unparalleled for experiencing the glory of that bygone age when Emperor Shah Jehan engaged innumerable Asian and European architects and a workforce of thousands for over 22 years to create ‘a mausoleum that is recognized as the culmination of the Mughal architectural tradition’ in 1646. The Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the modern world, is certainly what Shah Jehan wanted it to be: ‘The masterpiece of the days to come’. Her book The Complete Taj Mahal has been a great success in the art world. The book carries an unprecedented 378 illustrations, 274 of them in colour. It tells the story of how this magnificent edifice was planned, constructed and the beautiful series of gardens that surrounded it on the River Yamuna. It points out the relationship between the mausoleum and the bustling city of Agra in the days of the Mughal Empire.

“Much has been written on the romantic aspects of this majestic structure. There have been films, poetry, literature and every kind of creative effort to narrate the love story of Emperor Shah Jehan and his Queen Mumtaz Mahal. But little has been said about its architecture. The Taj Mahal replicates the divine garden where departed souls await entry to heaven. Historical research shows that Shah Jehan conceived its design as representing the heavenly Garden of Allah, where the dead await the Day of Judgment. The surrounding char-bagh style gardens and the series of gardens on the riverfront (now lost) were meant to recreate what Shah Jehan thought was the divine garden.”

Ebba Koch’s book – published a few years ago by Thames and Hudson – has become one of the best-sellers of the art world. Prof. Koch has been conducting major surveys on the architectural concepts of the Mughals in the Indian subcontinent. In the process, she has presented extremely interesting material on the Taj and its riverfront gardens, which surrounded the monument in Agra in bygone ages.

“Agra was a flourishing centre of Mughal art whose foundation is symmetry,” she says, “The monuments built by several Mughal emperors in Agra suggest that they intended to create a fusion of their own architectural and artistic style with the genre of the earlier rich and varied heritage of India. The wonderful mixture of virginal white marble used to build the Taj and red sandstone used for building the fort and the environs of the Taj, signify that the colours also combined of two cultures.

 

 

 

 

The floral inlay work on the Taj is symbolic in its motifs and style. The flowers chosen in the designs are associated with funereal services. Prof. Koch points out that the floral ornamentation – the famous pietre dure inlay in white marble with precious stones and the rich relief carving in marble and red sandstone – has a symbolism. The quotation from the Quran that is carved in perfect symmetry on the entrance arch says that all souls of the dead wait in the Garden of Allah before the Day of Judgment. And thus the Taj is a replication of this garden, where the souls of the emperor and his beloved queen await their final departure to the presence of Allah. The ancillary constructions and tombs, the guesthouse and quarters of the caretakers of the tombs – all had a specific meaning in the complete plan of the monument. So also, the caravanserai and the bazaar completed the complex, though these are now all but lost.”

For the first time, Prof. Koch reconstructs the spectacular row of gardens that Shah Jehan created along the River Yamuna, because of the significance of water to a tomb or mausoleum. She discusses in detail the place of the Taj in the midst of the ‘lost gardens of Agra’. “The symbolisms and techniques used in the construction of the entire Taj complex are absolutely fascinating,” she concludes, adding that the history of Taj becomes even more interesting from the 18^th century when the British colonial rulers realized its importance. Today, it occupies an enviable place in world tourism as the ‘best ornament of India.’

Queen Mumtaz Mahal (earlier Arjumand Begum), the niece of Noor Jehan (being the daughter of her brother Asaf Khan), was the third wife of Emperor Shah Jehan (earlier Prince Khurram) and had thirteen children. She died at the age of 39 in her 14^th childbirth on June 17, 1631 in Burhanpur on the banks of the River Tapti, where she had accompanied her husband. She was first buried in the Zainabad Garden in that city. Legend says that before dying, Mumtaz Mahal obtained a promise from her husband that he would build a grand memorial to immortalize their love. Accordingly, her body was exhumed and brought six months later to Agra, to be buried in the Taj Mahal. The cenotaph in the Taj is a solemn structure and built in keeping with the Emperor’s promise! The Taj Mahal was completed at a cost of Rs.32 million in 1646 under the renowned Islamic architect Ustad Ahmad Lahouri (‘Isa’). Shah Jehan, in his last years, was imprisoned in the Agra Fort by his son Aurangzeb. He did not intend to be buried in the Taj Mahal and wished that a separate grand mausoleum would be built for him. But that was not to be.

 

 

When he died after being overthrown and imprisoned by Aurangzeb, his favourite daughter Jahan Ara buried him next to his beloved Mumtaz Mahal. Thus, the only thing that breaks the perfect symmetry of the Taj Mahal and the buildings around is Shah Jehan’s tomb. It is said that symmetry is the foundation of all Mughal architecture– except for the tomb of Shah Jehan, which is an exception in the Taj Mahal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ebba Koch has been architectural adviser to the Taj Mahal Conservation Collaborative since 2001 and her earlier book Mughal Architecture is the standard work on the subject.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Did you know?

Shah Jehan was one of most powerful Mughal emperors. Under his rule, the Mughal Empire became one of the most prosperous in the world. He was a great administrator and collected men of great statesmanship and caliber around him. Secular in his attitude, he created great wealth and great edifices. The Peacock Throne, the Taj Mahal, the Agra Fort and innumerable other works of art and architecture are credited to him. He patronized calligraphy, poetry, music, painting, dancing, astronomy, mathematics and medicine and was a patron for men of learning and wisdom.

One of his three magnificent creations, the famous Peacock Throne was designed in the 17th century as his royal insignia. It remains one of the grandest thrones ever made in human history.  Made of gold and fabulous precious stones, it was snatched away from India by Nadir Shah of Persia in 1739. Today, it remains untraced! But in the memory of art lovers, it remains a symbol of the grand monarchy of the Mughals in India!

 

Tagged with: Indian Heritage Sites
 

Blogroll

• Vimla Patil

This entry was posted on Friday, February 10th, 2012 at 1:00 am and is filed under Section B: Heritage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.