- Paperback: 100 pages
- Publisher: University of Washington Press (1 May 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0295980346
- ISBN-13: 978-0295980348
- Product Dimensions: 28.4 x 19.6 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,099,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
" ... an important source of information for both historians and art historians and especially researchers working on medieval Indian history."--Landscape History, Vol 23, 2001 "This concise but eminently readable account of the investigation is accompanied by coloured photographs, a few reproductions chosen from Mughal miniatures, and an excellent folded plan of both gardens."--Curtis's Botanical Magazine 18, 4, 2001
Product Description
For 350 years, the Taj Mahal in Agra has reigned luminous and splendid as perhaps the most admired monument in the world. Visitors who gazed across the Yamuna River from the Taj pavilions have viewed what appears to be little more than farmers' fields and barren ground. But historical references as well as paintings from the time of Shahjahan (r. 1628-58) reveal that it was once densely covered by rectangular walled enclosures and lush vegetation. The Mughal emperor Babur built gardens here as a way of evoking the characteristic delights of the homeland he had abandoned when he moved from Central Asia into India in 1526. Eventually, as the Mughal Empire grew more powerful, the riverbank became lined with gardens belonging not only to the imperial family but also to important nobles. This definitive volume describes the discoveries of an international project documenting the surface remains of a long-abandoned Mughal garden, spectacularly located directly across the river from the Taj Mahal. The book is illustrated with new photographs of the Taj Mahal and the garden - now identified as the Mahtab Bagh, or Moonlight Garden - as well as with paintings from Shahjahan's era. Modelled after the Persian concept of earthly paradise, the pleasure gardens of 17th-century Mughal emperors exhibited elaborate renditions of cut-stone architecture, water chutes, standing pools, flowing fountains, and plantings intended to stimulate the senses. Well-ordered oases in an otherwise hot, dusty, and chaotic environment, these gardens were places of respite and enjoyment. The authors show that in plan, proportion, and directional alignment, the Moonlight Garden is indeed an integral part of the design of the gardens at the Taj Mahal, presenting an expansive new interpretation of one of the most famous buildings in the world. Elizabeth B. Moynihan is the author of "Paradise as a Garden in Persia and Mughal India". Other contributors include David L. Lentz, John M. Fritz, George Michell, and James L. Wescoat Jr.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is almost a work of art in itself. It charts the painstaking research of the Mahtab Bagh, the garden facing the Taj Mahal on the opposite side of the Yamuna river. There are a few surviving parts, a section of the wall of a lotus-carved octagonal pool, a pavilion, pieces of carving. This is pieced together with documentary evidence and aerial site photographs to show the complete garden: the shapes of the waterways, plant areas and paths. Written with scholarly excellence and affection, the essays supported by beautiful photographs and historical evidence, this book is a delight from all points of view.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Of course, a Pleasure Garden!
20 April 2005
Format:Paperback
I was intrigued with the new Taj Mahal discoveries focused upon in this book. The Moonlight Garden shows that the land across the Jumna River from the Taj had been an integral part of the famous mausoleum's overall design. This book is factual and fully illusrated with photographs, drawings, and Mughal miniature paintings to help with explanations. Very helpful to me for my writing.
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