Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXV. Agriculture, Manufacture and Architecture—Wheat Growing—The Farm Laborer—His Condition, Implements, etc. The Taj-Mahal—Jugglers—Snake Charmers—From My Journal
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Story of an Emigtiant. 259
265
temple in size, but none can rival it in ideal beauty and
finish. It looks more like a temple of thanksgiving and praise
than an abode of sorrow, and the spirit of love seems to fill
its silent chambers, quickening and warming the cold
marble and transforming the whole building into a dream, into
a psalm in stone. It is rich in mosaics, and precious stones
of different colors assume the shape of fresh vines and living
flowers. There it stands in solemn silence on the banks of
the Jumna, like an enchanted vision. It seemed to grow in
magnificent splendor before my eyes as I approached it.
The airy dome and the white marble pillars glittered in
fabulous, mystic beauty, and towered far above the gigantic
cypress trees, which stood in rows like sentinels around it.
One enters the park in front of the main building through a
pillared archway of colossal dimensions, built of red
sandstone and surmounted by twenty-six white cupolas. The
height of the arches is one hundred and forty feet.
" Taj-Mahal iserected on a base of red sand-stone nine
hundred and sixty-four feet long and three hundred and
twenty-nine feet wide, one side of which is washed by the river
Jumna, and on each of the four corners is a tower of red
sand-stone covered by a white marble kiosk. Two mosques
take up the east and west sides. From this ground rises a fine
terrace of white marble, three hundred and thirteen feet
square, in the center of which is the beautiful main building
itself. At each angle is an airy marble spire of exquisite
style, surmounted by a noble cupola resting on eight pillars.
They are about one hundred and fifty feet high, and a spiral
stairwray leads to the very top. The ground-plan of
Taj-Mahal forms a regular octangle. The four sides on which
the entrances are located are each about one hundred and
thirty feet long, and turn to the four cardinal points of the
compass. The roof is seventy feet above the base. Over
each corner is a gorgeous spire, and over the center towers a
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