Charbagh: Taj Mahal

http://www.chishti.ru/d_m_four.htm

http://prezi.com/y7homqvubh9e/edit/#0_24309637

http://www.destinationsindia.com/taj-mahal/charbagh-the-taj-garden.html

http://www.tajmahal.org.uk/taj-garden.html

https://owlspace-ccm.rice.edu/access/content/group/ARCH-HART-345-001-Sp14/Lecture%20Handouts/3.12_tajmahal.pdf

http://islamic-arts.org/2011/the-symbolism-of-the-islamic-garden/

The Chahar Bagh

The Ideal Nature of the Taj Mahal

By Nick Conard

The Garden outside the Taj Mahal is one of the most famous examples of a Charbagh. The Charbagh style garden originated in ancient Persia, but writings about the gardens of paradise date back to the beginnings of human civilization. The word means four gardens. The garden is separated into four main areas by walkways or small water channels that meet at a fountain in the center. The concept of the Charbagh moves past religious symbolism aspiring to the ideal. They were the epitome of human technological accomplishment. These gardens were very difficult to maintain. They were placed in the most arid of regions, requiring considerable amounts of water to maintain them. Each was meticulously designed, pushing the boundaries of what human technology could accomplish. These gardens are important for us to understand in today’s world because as our resources are exhausted, we must learn to properly use technology for the benefit of the planet and not make the same mistakes as the past.

Walled Garden

This form of garden was made to resemble the garden of paradise where the virtuous go after death. As such, the Charbagh are very private gardens, surrounded by tall walls. The concept of paradise in Ancient Persia has walls in the word itself. The Persian word for paradise, pairidaeza, translates as “surrounded by walls.” These walls kept the ideal within the edenic garden, and the imperfection out. The walls kept out the rest of the world, allowing the gardens to be a place for prayer and relaxation. Each of the walls normally had a gate at its center. These gateways symbolize the areas in the mosque set aside for private prayer. Furthermore, the entrances reflect the transition from the mundane world to the gardens of paradise themselves. The ideal typically isolates itself from the rest of the world. These walls are a physical barrier that allows the ideal garden to remain under close and strict control, while the rest of the world naturally continues around it. The ideal garden seems to move away from the natural and more towards the artificial. As humans manipulate nature to greater extents, the end result moves farther away from the organic, since nature runs wild and the natural world manipulated by humans is exactly that, manipulated and thus, increasingly constructed, disconnected and artificial.

Four Rivers

Charbaghs are generally in very arid areas; yet water is key to the Charbagh. The water symbolizes a cleansing both physically and spiritually. Purity is a key symbol in these gardens. Since the water would evaporate by most typical efforts used at the time to transport water from far away sources, the ancient Persians needed to find an alternate and innovative methods to obtain it. To solve the problem of bringing water to the gardens from far away sources, the ancient Persians used below ground tunnels that carried the water from subterranean aquifers. They then used a series of wells to carry the water up to the surface. The phrase used in the Quran for these edenic gardens is “Jannat tajri min tahtiha al-anhar.” This translates as “Gardens underneath which rivers flow.” This obviously reflects the fact that the gardens used a subterranean irrigation system. But on another level this speaks to the spirits’ ability to nurture and rejuvenate the soul. Transporting water this way is impressive considering the simple mechanics used to accomplish this feat. However, viewers today can learn something about what happens when vital resources are not sufficiently protected by looking at the Charabaghs. Water was used in significant amounts to maintain these gardens, which were used only by royalty and the elite, and not the rest of the population. It is this type of squandering in many parts of the world that has likely fueled the water crises experienced by many people in today’s context. Throughout history we have used materials as if they were infinitely available. But people today can no longer act like this. While the creators of the Charbaghs were using technology very proficiently, their use of water could be considered wasteful in an era where water for drinking or meeting life-saving needs is not always available. Today we need to push technology help protect and heal the earth, not just for current but also for future generations

The Charbaghs method of gardening required considerable resources in addition to water, such as vegetation and manpower. Given the cost of the systems needed to create and maintain the gardens they began to be seen as royal expenditures. A feat as extravagant as creating a Charbagh, could only be undertaken by royalty since only they had the resources to use the technology that was considered cutting edge at the time. Charbaghs are a technological feat that is prototypic and could have progressed into a more socially responsible solution. The technology of the Charbagh could have been pushed farther to allow for easier living for all socioeconomic classes, not just royalty. The amount of water and other necessary resources for life in the desert could have been used to shade the citizens or promote agriculture in these arid regions. A technological feat like this could have increased the prestige of the Persian and eventually Mongul empires.

The major divider in the garden, besides the out walls, is a canal system in the middle. Two major lines cross the garden splitting it into four large quadrants. Each of these water elements is cut in two by a central fountain. These four water features resemble the four rivers in the Islamic image of heaven. Each river is filled with a different substance: water, wine, milk, and honey.

Quadrants

The four quadrants that the rivers create are further divided by four. This creates 16 sectors in each of the four quadrants, making a total of 64 sectors. Four is a holy number in Islam, with countless examples of its importance to the culture. Obviously as a universal symbol, the number four reflects the cardinal directions as well as the four elements. In the Islamic religion, there are four holy books (Torah, Zabur, Injil, Qur’an), the paradise gardens are split into four (Soul, Heart, Spirit Essence), and the cube not only represents the house of god and the strong center of the world.

The grid system provides a clear directionality to the site. Despite the fact that squares have no front and all the sides are equal, the grid pattern creates clear movements for the visitors throughout the garden. The linear paths move people straight through the site at a right angle. These movements further the artificiality of the garden, because straight lines and right angles do not occur naturally.

Trees

The plantings in the Charbagh area extremely important to the significance of the garden. The planting on the site consists of lowered grass areas, flowers, and different types of trees. Since the Charbagh was designed as a place of rest and relaxation, the grass provided a comfortable place to sit. These gardens were not designed to be “natural.” They were supposed to be paradise, like the paradise gardens in Ancient Persia and Eden in Islam. Therefore, even the planting was done in a very strict pattern within the quadrants throughout the garden. The cypress trees line the four waterways. The fruit trees fill the planted squares.

The trees in the quadrants are fruit trees. These symbolize life. Since the Charbagh were places of relaxation and socializing, the social life that exists in the gardens mirrors that of the trees. These fruits trees (fig, cherry, peach, etc.) also embody the female persona. Along with the cypress, the two trees symbolize the life created by the two personas coming together, as well as the mixtures of the mundane and the heavenly. Death is eternal like the heavens, while life is fleeting like the mundane.

The trees provide imagery that is important to the site as a Charbagh as well as the foreground to the Taj Mahal. The trees placed along the central canals are cypress trees. These represent death and reflect the fact that the Taj Mahal is the tomb for the king and his wife. The cypress trees are also a representation of the male persona.

The trees also support other forms of life in the gardens, such as birds or insects that live in the trees or in the shade below. The flowering plants bring colorful life to the garden. While, the color of Islam is green, it is only the flowers that inspire the colorful tiles with images of men in the gardens.

British Landscape Transformation

Today the garden does not resemble it original form. When the British took control of India, they reorganized the gardens. British gardens are very different from the Charbaghs. British Gardens were designed for peaceful strolls and to provide expansive and beautiful views. British weather is mild and enjoyable to walk out in the open. The Charbagh gardens were designed for sitting and peaceful contemplation. Therefore, on the original site of the Taj Mahal, visitors to the site were supposed to have glimpses of the marble of the Taj Mahal, except along the canals. You can see this in the image, but the lush vegetation that would have laid off to the right or left of the cypress trees is no longer present. The chenar trees originally planted were for shade, where the inhabitants of the gardens could escape the cruel heat of the sun, since many of these gardens were constructed in very arid places. Their large branches and leaves helped strengthen the imagery of the Charbagh, but it took away from the English walking gardens and was thus destroyed. The Charbagh is better suited for the environment in India. The shade from the trees and the cooler temperatures coming off the water are perfect to counter the intense heat of India. Furthermore the fruit trees provide a solution to the arid surroundings.

Mehtab Bagh

The fact that the Taj Mahal is not at the center of the garden is strange. In the Charbagh gardens, the central fountain is the key moment. So placement of the building at the north of the site is very different from the norm. The location of the Taj Mahal connects this Charbagh to a larger network. There is another Charbagh across the river from the Taj Mahal, called the Mehtab Bagh. The Taj Mahal at the northernmost spot on the site, along with the Mehtab Bagh, connect the Charbagh at the Taj Mahal more than just a singular site. The Mehtab Bagh moves the Taj Mahal to the center of the site. This central location makes the Taj Mahal part of a larger system of Charbaghs across the world.

Cultural Integration

The chahar baghs contain a mixture of multiple cultural influences. The chahar baghs originated in Ancient Persia. When the Arab empire conquered the Old Persian Empire, the Arabic people enjoyed the gardens so much that they took the idea for themselves and integrated some of their ideas into the original gardens. While the original concept comes from Persia, many of the details, including the gateways are Islamic in origin. The Taj Mahal is a perfect example of the mixture of cultures. The parasol shapes on the central structure are Indian in origin. The minarets are Islamic structures.

The Charbagh influence goes beyond the garden itself. The interior of the Taj Mahal is decorated with ornaments of nature. The floral decorations that cover the walls bring life to the large mausoleum. Together, the garden and the buildings bring to life the site that is at its core a tomb. They create a singular experience where the visitors of the site can enjoy the shade, nature, and beautiful architecture in one fluid movement.

The Charbaghs don’t only create a relaxing experience, they even teach the masses today about the extent that humans can push technology. But sometimes these technological feats are not beneficial in the long run or the most people, as in the case of the water systems that maintained the Charbaghs for the benefit of only the royalty. We must today push our technology to protect the earth instead of waste what we have been given. Since the creation of the Charbagh technology has developed tremendously. Using these leaps in technology, the governments of the planet can carry water to under developed dry areas that need water to survive. Furthermore, this transport can be developed in a way that can have the least amount of impact on the earth as possible