after having passed through a very uninteresting
country, and a short branch line took me to
Agra.
The latter, now the seat of Government of the
province, had from 1526 to 1658 been the capital of
the Mogul sovereigns, and like Delhi, which took its
place, owes the creation of so many unique palaces and
public buildings to the refined taste and genius of
Shah Jehan.
Already before crossing the Jumna by a long bridge
of boats, since replaced by a railway viaduct, the
famous Taj appears in the distance on the border of
th a t mighty river, and not many travellers will long
delay a closer inspection. This wonderful monument,
as everybody knows, was erected by Shah Jehan, as
the tomb of his beautiful wife Arjemand Banu, also
called Mumtaz Mahal (Paragon of the Age), or Noor
Jehan (Light of the World). To have an idea of the
stupendousness of the task, we have only to consider
that it took twenty-two years to complete the work,
and that its height to the top of the central dome is
250 feet. The best view one has of the great Taj is
either from the opposite shore or by approaching it
through the garden avenue, which is lined with dark
and sombre looking cypress trees, as if intended to prepare
the mind for the proper appreciation of the tomb
I -of so exalted a personage. A high wall with a handsome
gateway on each side, all of red sandstone,
encloses, excepting its river façade, the enormous
square platform, upon which stand in each comer an
exquisitely tapered minaret with the Taj in the centre.
The form of the latter is octagonal, it has four lofty
entrances under a Moorish arch, facing each quarter of
the globe, and is surmounted by a large Oriental dome
in the centre, containing an echo of marvellous sweetness,
flanked by four smaller ones in a line with the
minarets. The interior, relieved by recesses and
galleries, contains the sarcophagi of Shah Jehan and
his consort, surrounded by a splendidly carved screen,
rather resembling lace than marble. The material of
this monument, of the platform with its open work
gallery, of the minarets, and of the temple itself, nay,
of the entire Taj and all that belongs to it, is of snow-
white marble, and, thanks to a Government grant, in
most perfect condition. The outside, and also the
inner tomb, is richly inlaid with arabesques of precious
stones in Florentine manner, and an elegant border,
consisting of verses from the Koran in Persian letters
of black marble, surrounds the entrance gates. The
stones employed are the cornelian, which came from
Gujerat and Bagdad, the jasper and heliotrope from
the Punjab, turquoises from Thibet, lapis lazuli