DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3461#0198
184 ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC.
prayers, must bo turned to the tomb of their prophe*
—to the west. The mosque on the east side was
therefore, built merely as a companion to the other.
The whole area is laid out in square parterres, planted
with flowers and shrubs in the centre, chiefly the
cypress, all round the borders, forming- an avenue to
every road. These roads, or paths, are all paved with
slabs of freestone, and have, running along the centre,
a basin, with a row of jets cl'cau in the middle, from
one extremity to the other. The quadrangle is from
east to west 964 feet, and from north to south 329.
The mausoleum itself, the terrace upon which it stands,
and the minarets, are all formed of the finest white
marble, inlaid with precious stones. The Avail around
the quadrangle, including the river face of the terrace^
is made of red sandstone, with cupolas and pillars of
the same white marble. The inside of the mosques and
apartments in and upon the walls are all lined with
marble or with stone-work that looks like marble; but
on the outside the red sandstone resembles uncovered
bricks. The dazzling white marble of the mausoleum was
brought from the Jeypore territories, a distance'of 300
miles, upon wheeled carriages. What was figuratively
said of Augustus may be literally said of Shah Jehan:
he found cities all brick, and left them all marble. The
emperor and his queen lie buried side by side in a
vault beneath the building, to which access is obtained
by a flight of steps. Their remains are covered by
two slabs of marble, and directly over these slabs, upon
the floor above, in the great centre room under the
dome, stand two other slabs, or cenotaphs, of the same
marble, exquisitely worked in mosaic. Upon that of
the queen, amid wreaths of flowers, are worked in
black letters, passages from the Koran. Upon the slab
over the emperor there are none: merely a mosaic wall
of flowers and the date of his death.
The cause of the difference is, that Shah Jehan had
prayers, must bo turned to the tomb of their prophe*
—to the west. The mosque on the east side was
therefore, built merely as a companion to the other.
The whole area is laid out in square parterres, planted
with flowers and shrubs in the centre, chiefly the
cypress, all round the borders, forming- an avenue to
every road. These roads, or paths, are all paved with
slabs of freestone, and have, running along the centre,
a basin, with a row of jets cl'cau in the middle, from
one extremity to the other. The quadrangle is from
east to west 964 feet, and from north to south 329.
The mausoleum itself, the terrace upon which it stands,
and the minarets, are all formed of the finest white
marble, inlaid with precious stones. The Avail around
the quadrangle, including the river face of the terrace^
is made of red sandstone, with cupolas and pillars of
the same white marble. The inside of the mosques and
apartments in and upon the walls are all lined with
marble or with stone-work that looks like marble; but
on the outside the red sandstone resembles uncovered
bricks. The dazzling white marble of the mausoleum was
brought from the Jeypore territories, a distance'of 300
miles, upon wheeled carriages. What was figuratively
said of Augustus may be literally said of Shah Jehan:
he found cities all brick, and left them all marble. The
emperor and his queen lie buried side by side in a
vault beneath the building, to which access is obtained
by a flight of steps. Their remains are covered by
two slabs of marble, and directly over these slabs, upon
the floor above, in the great centre room under the
dome, stand two other slabs, or cenotaphs, of the same
marble, exquisitely worked in mosaic. Upon that of
the queen, amid wreaths of flowers, are worked in
black letters, passages from the Koran. Upon the slab
over the emperor there are none: merely a mosaic wall
of flowers and the date of his death.
The cause of the difference is, that Shah Jehan had