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The art of practicing architecture in India today

is dominated by the desire to invent authenticity.


-Romi Khosla

 

Mughal art and architecture,

a characteristic Indo-Islamic-Persian style

that flourished on the Indian subcontinent

during the Mughal empire (1526–1857).

 

This new style combined elements

of Islamic art and architecture,

which had been introduced to India

during the Delhi Sultanate (1192–1398)

and had produced great monuments

such as the Qutb Minar,

with features of Persian art and architecture.

 

Mughal monuments are found chiefly

in North India,

but there are also many remains in Pakistan.

 

 

 

In architecture the first great Mughal monument

was the mausoleum to Humayun,

erected during the reign of Akbar (1556–1605).

 

The tomb, which was built in the 1560s,

was designed by a Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas.

Set in a garden at Delhi, it has an intricate ground plan

with central octagonal chambers, joined by an archway

with an elegant facade and surmounted by

cupolas, kiosks, and pinnacles.

 

At the same time Akbar was building his fortress-palace

in his capital, Agra.

Native red sandstone was inlaid with white marble,

and all the surfaces were ornately carved on the outsideand sumptuously painted inside.

 

 

 

Akbar went on to build the entire city

of Fatehpur Sikri (City of Victory)

in which extensive use

was made of the low arches

and bulbous domes that characterize

the Mughal style.

 

Built in 1571 the choice of the site of Sikri

reflected Akbar's gratitude to a Muslim saint

at Sikri for the birth of his son.

Courtiers soon followed suit and built homes

surrounding the palace and mosque.

 

The new city became

the capital of the empire,

but in 1585 it was abandoned.

 

 

 

It was Shah Jahan (1628–58)

who perfected Mughal architecture

and erected at Agra its most noble and famous building,

the tomb of his favorite wife, which is known as the Taj Mahal.

 

A huge white marble building of simple, symmetrical plan,

it is inlaid with colorful semiprecious materials

and is set in an equally beautiful and symmetrical garden.

The Taj Mahal continues the tradition

of Mughal garden tombs,

of which Humayun's tomb was the first.

 

Shah Jahan established (1638) Delhi as his capital

and built there the famous Red Fort,

which contained the imperial Mughal palace.

   

 

Charles Correa creating plans for a twin-city across the harbor.
The district that has become known today as New Bombay.

Indian architects may come from a country famous for such slums as Dharawi,
but they also are inheritors of one of the richest architectural traditions.

 

A people who gave the world the futuristic Indus Valley Civilization,
the palaces and forts of Rajput India,

and the rich Mughal architecture culminating in the Taj Mahal.

 

Underlining it all is their knowledge of Vastu,
the ancient Hindu science of architecture.
 
 

 



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