A green carpet of garden, a Persian garden, runs from the main gateway to
the foot of the Taj Mahl. Such gardens were introduced to India by Babur,
the first Mughal emperor, who also brought with him the Persian infatuation
with flowers and fruit, birds and leaves, symmetry and delicacy. Unlike
other Oriental gardens - especially those of the Japanese, who learned to
accentuate existing resources rather than formalise them - the Persian
garden was artificially contrived, unbashedly man-made, based on geometric
arrangements of nature without any attempt at a "natural" look.
Like Persian gardeners, landscape artists at the Taj Majal attempted to
translate the perfection of heaven into terrestrial terms by following
certain formulas. In Islam, four is the holiest of all numbers - most
arrangements of the Taj Majal are based on that number or its multiples -
and the gardens were thus laid out in the quadrate plan. Two marble canals
studded with fountains and lined with cypress trees (symbolising death)
cross in the centre of the garden dividing it into four equal squares.
The mausoleum, instead of occupying the central point (like most mughal
mausoleums), stands majestically at the north end just above the river. Each
of the four quarters of the garden has been sub-divided into 16 flower beds
by stone-paved raised pathways. At the centre of the garden, halfway between
the tomb and the gateway, stands a raised marble lotus-tank with a cusped
border. The tank has been arranged to perfectly reflect the Taj in its
waters.
A clear, unobstructed view of the mausoleum is available from any spot in
the garden. Fountains and solemn rows of cypress trees only adorn the
north-south water canal, lest the attention of the viewer would be diverted
to the sides !! This shows how carefully the aesthetic effect of the water
devices and the garden were calculated. The deep green cypress trees with
their slender rising shapes and curving topmost crests are mirrored in the
water while between their dark reflections shines the beauty of the immortal
Taj Mahl.
The Water Devices at the Taj Mahal
The architect e conduits, designed a clever system to procure water for the
Taj Mahl through underground pipes. Water was drawn from the river by a
series of purs (manual system of drawing water from a water body using a
rope and bucket pulled by bullocks) and was brought through a broad water
channel into an oblong storage tank of great dimensions. It was again raised
by a series of thirteen purs worked by bullocks.
Except for the ramps, the other features of the whole water system have
survived. An over-head water-channel supported on massive arches carried
water into another storage tank of still greater dimensions. Water was
finally raised by means of fourteen purs and passed into a channel which
filled three supply tanks, the last of which had pipe mouths in its eastern
wall. The pipes descended below and after travelling underground crossed
into the Taj Majal enclosure. One pipe line runs directly towards the mosque
to supply the fountains in the tanks on the red sandstone plinth below the
marble structure. Copper pipes were used for separate series of fountains in
the north-south canal, lotus pond and the canal around it.
An ingenious method was devised to ensure uniform and undiminished water
pressure in the fountains, irrespective of the distance and the outflow of
water. A copper pot was provided under each fountain pipe - which was thus
connected to with the water supply only through the pot. Water first fills
the pot and then only rises simultaneously in the fountains. The fountains
are thus controlled by pressure in the pots and not pressure in the main
pipe. As the pressure in the pots is uniformly distributed all the time, it
ensures equal supply of water at the same rate in all the fountains.
The main supply of the water was however obtained through earthenware
pipes. One such main was discovered under the bed of the western canal. The
pipe is 9" in diameter and has been embedded in masonry at a depth of 5
feet below the level of the paved walk. Evidently, the Mughal water expert
was a master of his art and successfully worked out the levels in relation
to the volume of water to ensure its unobstructed supply for centuries. He
anticipated no repair work and therefore made no provision for it; hence the
extraordinary depth at which the pipe was sunk.
The garden is irrigated by the overflowing of canals. The north-south canal
has inlets of water through fountains. The east-west received its water
through an interconnection with the north-south canal. Thus the quarters
near the canals received an adequate supply of water and could be used for
growing flower-plants which would not obscure the general view, while the
distant quarters got a smaller supply of water and were suitable only for
tall trees.
