Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/434

 CHAPTER XXX.

THE TĀJ MAHUL.

"I have paid two visits to Agra since I returned from Lucnow, and thought of you and the sāhib whilst admiring the Tāj. Do not, for the sake of all that is elegant, think of going home without paying it a visit. I shall, with great delight, be your cicerone in these regions: if you put it off much longer (if alive), I shall scarce be able to crawl with old age. Do not think of quitting India; it is a country far preferable to the cold climate, and still colder hearts of Europe."

W. L. G, Khasgunge.

The Tāj Mahul—Arzumund Bānoo—Shāhjahān—The Screen—The Echo of the Dome—Momtâza Zumâni—Her Sons and Daughters—Asaf-jāh—Noormāhul—Ruins of the second Tāj—Offerings at the Shrine—The wall—The Kālūn Darwāza—The Fountains—Melā of the Eed—The Burj—The Jāmma Khāna—The Masjid—The Bāo'lī—Tomb and Masjid of the Fathī pooree Begam—Tomb of the Akbarābādee Begam—Ground-plan of the Tāj—The Minarets—Stones used in the Mosaic—Tomb of the Simundee Begam—The Sitee Khanam—A Farewell to the Tāj.

1835, Jan.—I have seen the Tāj Mahul; but how shall I describe its loveliness? its unearthly style of beauty! It is not its magnitude; but its elegance, its proportions, its exquisite workmanship, and the extreme delicacy of the whole, that render it the admiration of the world. The tomb, a fine building of white marble, erected upwards of two centuries ago, is still in a most wonderful state of preservation, as pure and delicate as when first erected. The veins of grey in the marble give it a sort of pearl-like tint, that adds to, rather than diminishes its beauty. It stands on a square terrace of white marble, on each angle of which is a minaret of the same material. The whole is carved externally and internally, and inlaid with ornaments formed of blood-stones, agates, lapis lazuli, &c. &c., representing natural