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The other seeming oddity of its role as a national symbol is that it has achieved this status for Indians in spite of it being Islamic.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
One can imagine having a procedural rule that anything ambiguous should be treated as the Taj Mahal unless we see that it is labelled 'fog'...The motorist replies: 'What sort of rule is this? Surely the best guarantee I can have that the fog is fog is if I fail to see the sign saying 'fog' because of the fog.'
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks
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My parents grew up during the Harlem renaissance.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
It is a tomb, most famous of the Mughals, whose empire flourished in India between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, enshrining the remains of the fifth emperor of the dynasty, w:Shah Jahan|Shah Jehan| and those of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal. She died before him and construction of the complex began immediately.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
'Aye, build it on these banks,' the monarch said,'That when the autumn winds have swept the sea,They may come hither with their falling rains,A voice of mighty weeping o'er her grave.'
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
It was intended as an earthly reflection of paradise not just for Mumtaz Mahal, but also for the visitors who would visit it over the years. In fact the larger Taj complex with its forecourt of the Jilaukhana complex and the surrounding bazar and caravanserai zone were meant to accommodate travelers.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
To too many people in India it suggests not only a building but a blend of tea. It is also cry of admiration as Wah Taj!, indicative of Mughal sophistication and elegance...There are several appropriations to the building name to brand names such as of hotels, tea, saffron, and bars of soap and so forth.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
Although an important amount of repairs and conservation works have been carried out right from the British period in India these have not compromised to the original qualities of the buildings.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks
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I don't care if it's somebody else's song. Most of the time, you'll find that I'll put my own stamp on it. But I started writing more because, you know, it's easy to regurgitate what somebody else is doing, but it's exciting to be able to come up with your own writing.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
So grand a structure cannot be purely and simply a tomb.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
If the light is right, you can squint at the Taj and see the specter of its black twin on the other side of the Yamuna - and it is then that you truly marvel not just at the Taj, but at the wonder of what might have been.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
If I'd ever grown prosperous like he was, I'd not have waited for my beloved's death before I erected a Taj Mahal.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
It was built with posterity in mind; we the viewers are part of its concept.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, it is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks
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Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his beloved wife.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
As a symbol of love it does not quite work for her, since its overwhelming beauty demands a passive response that is irritating to the adventurous.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
Yeah, I can understand that. All the splendor of the Taj Mahal, without the inconvenience and expense of traveling to India.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
The soul of Iran incarnate in the body of India.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
She ran off with my plunge router guide. How am I supposed to build that scale model of the Taj Mahal out of cherry wood without my plunge router guide?
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
At the corner of the white marble platform, which is 23 yards above the level of the ground, stand four minarets, also of marble, with interior staircases and capped by cupolas, which are 7 cubits in diameter and rise to a total of 32 cubits from the pavement of the said platform to the filial, appearing as it were, like ladders reaching towards the heavens.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks
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The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines. These changes, they say, depict the moods of woman.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
It is a complex of buildings; a mosque, a guest house, an enormous entrance gate, four minaret towers and the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan’s wife. It is laid out in a rectangular grid on 42 acres along the Yamuna River, with water fountains and gardens and reflecting pools.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that it has a life of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or substracted from it.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks -
Its designers drew inspiration from three related traditions: the architecture of the Mughals' central Asian homeland; the buildings erected by earlier Muslim rulers of India, especially in the Delhi region; and the much older architectural expertise of India itself.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks