Overlooking the River Yamuna, and visible from the fort in the west, the Taj Mahal stands at the northern end of vast gardens enclosed by walls. Though its layout follows a distinctly Islamic theme, representing Paradise, it is above all a monument to romantic love. Shah Jahan built the Taj to enshrine the body of his favourite wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal (“Elect of the Palace”), who died shortly after giving birth to her fourteenth child, in 1631.

Architects at Work
The names of the chief architects who worked on the Taj have been noted. Ismail Afandi, who designed the hemispheres and built the domes was from Turkey. Qazim Khan came from Lahore to cast the gold finial that would top the dome. Chiranji Lal was called from Delhi to pattern the mosaic. From Shiraz in Persia came master calligrapher, Amanat Khan. Stone cutter Amir Ali was from Baluchistan. Ustad Isa of Tukey is however credited to have been the main architect. It is believed that his design embodied much of what the Emperor wanted to express.

Approach to the Taj Mahal
The walled complex is approached from the south through a red sandstone forecourt, Chowk-i Jilo Khana, whose wide paths, flanked by arched kiosks, run to high gates in the east and west. The original entrance, a massive arched gateway topped with delicate domes and adorned with Koranic verses, stands at the northern edge of Chowk-i Jilo Khana, directly aligned with the Taj, but shielding it from the view of those who wait outside. Today’s entrance, complete with security checks, is through a narrow archway in the southern wall to the right of the gate.

Garden mausoleum
The mighty marble tomb stands at the end of superb gardens designed in the charbagh style so fashionable among Moghul, Arabic and Persian architects. Dissected into four quadrants by waterways, they evoke the Islamic image of the Gardens of Paradise, where rivers flow with water, milk, wine and honey. The “rivers” converge at a marble tank in the centre that corresponds to al-Kawthar, the celestial pool of abundance mentioned in the Koran. Today only the watercourse running from north to south is full, and its precise, glassy reflection of the Taj is a favourite photographic image.

Sunset Point Structure of The Taj Mahal
Essentially square in shape, with peaked arches cut into its sides, the Taj Mahal surmounts a square marble platform marked at each corner by a high minaret. Topped with a huge central dome, it rises for over 55m, its height accentuated by a crowning brass spire, itself almost 17m high. On approach, the tomb looms ever larger and grander, but not until you are close do you appreciate both its awesome magnitude and the extraordinarily fine detail of relief carving, highlighted by floral patterns of precious stones. Carved vases of flowers including roses, tulips and narcissi, rise subtly out of the marble base, a pa ttern repeated more colourfully and inlaid with precious stones around the four great arched recesses (pishtaqs) on each side.

The Taj Mahal Tomb
The south face of the tomb is the main entrance to the interior: a high, echoing octagonal chamber flushed with pallid light reflected by yellowing marble surfaces. A marble screen, cut so finely that it seems almost translucent, and decorated with precious stones, scatters dappled light over the cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal in the centre of the tomb, and that of Shah Jahan next to it. Inlaid stones on the marble tombs are the finest in Agra; attendants gladly illuminate the decorations with torches. The 99 names of Allah adorn the top of Mumtaz’s tomb, and set into Shah Jahan’s is a pen box, the hallmark of a male ruler. These cenotaphs, in accordance with Moghul tradition, are only representations of the real coffins, which lie in the same positions in an unadorned and humid crypt below that’s heavy with the scent of heady incense and rose petals.

It can be said that the principles of Vaastu Shastra guided the construction of the Taj Mahal in terms of its location, plans and shape.

With the Taj part of the new Seven Wonders of the World list, let’s take a close look at this monument from the Vaastu viewpoint.

Unbelievable though it may sound, Vaastu dictated the design of the monument right from its location. To the North of the Taj runs the River Yamuna and it flows from the West to East. This is perfect, for Vaastu says that the area North and East of a building should slope northwards and eastwards.

It has been said quite rightly that the Taj Mahal is a blend of Persian and Indian architecture. Though its exterior is Persian, its soul is Indian.

For instance, Vaastu Shastra holds that the width of a building should equal its height. If you use a measuring tape in the Taj, you’ll that its length and width are exactly the same as its height. This couldn’t have happened if the architects who designed the Taj had been unaware of Vaastu .

Looking back at history, it was natural that Vaastu influenced Muslim architecture.

Shah Jahan and Jahangir’s mothers were Hindus, for instance, Shah Jahan’s mother was the daughter of Udai Singh of Marwar in Rajasthan and Jahangir’s mother belonged to the royal family of Amber. Both these regions, Marwar and Amber, were the citadels of Vaastu Shastra . So it’s not surprising that Jahangir and Shah Jahan’s mothers brought Vaastu influences to the Muslim homes they married into.

In the privacy of their chambers, they worshipped Lords Ganesh, Brahma, Surya, Vishnu, and Mahesh, who represent the five forces of nature that Vaastu seeks to harness for human good. The Taj pays homage to these five fundamentals because its four pillars represent Ganesh, Brahma, Surya, Vishnu, and its dome represents Mahesh, the God of space.

Some medieval architecture experts believe that the Taj brought in bad luck to Shah Jahan. They attribute this to the fact that Shah Jahan fell ill and was imprisoned after building the Taj.

I disagree, for what brought Shah Jahan bad luck was not the Taj but a black marble monument he tried to make across the river. But, he was unable to complete this because its location carried a jinx from the Vaastu viewpoint. South of it ran the Yamuna, and the land sloping southwards from a building brings disaster. No wonder the white Taj Mahal is one of the world’s spectacular wonders, while the black Taj ended up haIf-done and buried under the earth.

There is yet another feature that suggests a Vaastu influence on the Taj. And this is the fact that the monument has three shapes – a square, an octagon, and a circle. The floor of the Taj is a square. But the four guest-rooms on its four sides give the same square an eight-sided octagonal shape. The dome on top is a circle. These three shapes represent the Hindu Holy Trinity.

Could there be greater proof of the Vaastu influences which determined the shape of the Taj?