Anglais-Taj-Mahal - Exposé sur le taj mahal PDF

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Exposé sur le taj mahal...

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Anglais Exposé

Introduction

Hello everyone. We are three history students and today Romain, Dylan and me are going to make a presentation on the Taj Mahal.

India is a vast country loaded with monuments. One of them is the Taj Mahal ( crown palace in arabic), a magnificent mausoleum, located on the Yamuna River in Agra (India) and commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1632 to house the remains of his wife. The tomb is surrounded by a vast complex (42 acres) composed of a mosque, a guest house and a plethora of gardens. The Taj Mahal itself is built of white marble, changing color depending on the sunlight. Constructed between 1632 and 1653, the Taj Mahal is one of the most emblematic structures in India, designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 1983.

We may wonder to what extent the Taj Mahal can be regarded as an iconic symbol of India and a popular tourist attraction in today’s modern world.

First we are going to focus our attention on the romantic gesture behind this construction. Then, we are going to deal with the design and the construction of this monument. Finally, we are going to deal with the evolution of the mausoleum over the centuries.

Now let's focus on:

I) Shah Jahan’s romantic gesture, prelude to the construction of the Taj Mahal

As I said previously, the Taj Mahal is regarded as one the most beautiful buildings in the world and holds a very romantic story behind its construction. In fact, it was built by Shah Janan in the memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Firstly, Shah Janan was a member of the dynasty Mughal which ruled India for over two centuries: from the early 16th to the the mid 18th century. In 1612, he married the persian princess Arjumand Banu Begum. Mughal court poets praised her beauty. Indeed, it was said that the moon hid its face in shame before her. Despite the fact that Shah Janan had two other wives, Arjumand is considered the love of his life. Moreover, he was crowned emperor at Agra in 1628 at the death of his father, the fourth Mughal Emperor, Jahangir. When he ascended the throne he bestowed Arjumand Banu Begum, with the title Mumtaz Mahal (Jewel of the Palace). She accompanied him everywhere like on military campaigns. They enjoyed a blissful and long-lasting marriage, staying together for over 19 years before the tragic death of Mumtaz in 1631 whilst giving birth to her 14th child. Can you imagine the pain he felt when his beloved wife died? According to legend, Shah Janan promised to build his spouse the greatest tomb in the world. Filled with sorrow and left heart-broken he ordered the construction of a mausoleum for his wife, named the Taj Mahal. The emperor completely immersed himself into this project and it took 22 000 labourers more than 21 years to finish it. His wife’s tomb is at the centre of the Taj. After his death, Shah Janan was placed alongside her. We’ll come back to this later.

Therefore, the Taj Mahal is indisputably linked to a love story, the king ordering its building for his deceased wife. That’s bring me to the end of part one. However, the mausoleum is also an iconic symbol of India for the grandness and the magnificence of its architecture.

Now let’s look at :

II) The design and the construction of the Taj Mahal

As you may know, the building is influenced by Persian and Mughal architecture. It is made of white marble decorated with semi-precious stones such as crystal or lapis lazuli. Next, the central dome reaches a height of 44 meters and is decorated with lotus designs on the inside. It is surrounded by four smaller domes which are also encircled by four minarets that are more than 40 meters tall. The minaret is a turret furnished with a balcony from where the muezzin calls Muslims to prayer. Each minaret is divided into three equal parts by means of two balconies. Consequently, the architecture conveys the designer’s penchant for symmetry. In accordance with Islamic tradition, verses of the Quran are inscribed on the entrances to the mausoleum. Inside, you can find an octogonal chamber which contains the false tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, the real one situated below, at garden level. The latter is the main component of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal and is also made of white marble like the dome that we mentionned earlier.

What’s more, there are four gates to enter the building. The main gateway has 22 domes. The mosque is located at the west of the tomb and is made of red stones. There are also sixteen gardens divided into quarters by pools of water which make up the 17 hectares of land within the complex walls. The base of the Taj Mahal contains several chambers.

Finally, the full height of the Taj Mahal is 171 metres and the four sides of the building are identical, creating perfect symmetry as we mentionned before.

As the story goes, Shah Janan intended to build a second mausoleum for himself across the Yamuna River, opposite the Taj Mahal. However, he could not achieve his goal after being deposed by his own son Aurangzeb in 1658. He was then under house arrest. When he died in 1666, he was buried next to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

Consequently, the Taj Mahal is world-renowned for its architecture and has constantly evolved through the years. That's all I have to say about the architecture of the Taj. Now let's turn our attention to the evolution of the Taj over the years.

Now let's draw our attention to the evolution of:

III) The Taj Mahal over the years

Finally, the Taj Mahal has constantly evolved through the years. The Mughal empire reached its peak during Aurangzeb’s reign (1658-1707). At the time, he ruled over a population estimated to be over 158 million subjects. He installed many muslim policies which aimed to put a stop to the expansion of hinduism. For instance, many Hindu temples and shrines were utterly, totally destroyed. Nevertheless, the Mughal power collapsed by the mid 18th century and had a negative impact on the Taj Mahal. Indeed, it suffered from neglect after Shah Jahan’s death. However, thanks to the restoration of the mausoleum by Lord Curzon- a British viceroy (someone who represents a king or a queen and rules for him or her in another country) who wanted to preserve India’s culture- the Taj Mahal became popular on a global scale. Nowadays, 3 million people a year visit the Taj Mahal but the complex is exposed to potential threats caused by air pollution. Indeed, the high pollution in India due to automobiles and factories may darken the mausoleum’s white façade. In a bid to considerably reduce the pollution rate, the country closed many factories which were not far from the Taj Mahal. Furthermore, vehicular traffic nearby was banned.

Conclusion To conclude, the Taj Mahal is regarded as an iconic symbol of India for many reasons. Indeed, the cause of its construction is the love story between Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, which is really flabbergasting. Moreover, the dazzling architecture marks the culmination of the Mughal dynasty from the 16th to the 18 century. Finally, the evolution and the restauration of the Taj Mahal illustrates the cultural development of India across the globe. Therefore, despite the potential threats of air pollution, the Taj Mahal remains an iconic symbol of India and a popular tourist attraction in today’s modern world, with over 3 million people visiting it each year.

Thank you for your attention! If you have any questions we'll do our best to answer them....