The Democratic advocate., 1884-11-29
Our 0lio.
Miracles in. Marble.

A correspondent of the Philadelphia
Press writes from Agra India) as follows:
[ risked my reputation by criticising Be
mares and Lucknow. Now, let me make
atonement by equally honest eulogy of
Agra Oh, [ could weep for the poverty
of the English language when approach
the task of describing the famous Tai Ma
hal | only know that, as [ looked upon
it for the first time, felt the tears spring
ing to my eyes in some unaccountable and
unreasonable way; and almost echoed the
words of certain woman who once looked
upon the Tai for the first time, and could
only say, II would die tomorrow to have
such another one built over my dust."
After passing through the magnificent
avenues and ascending the great platform,
you approach the Tai proper, which is oc-
tagonal in form, the four sides which face
the cardinal points being each l3O feet
long, and the other four sides being much
smaller. Each angle terminates above in
slender minaret of exquisite proportions.
Everything is made of the finest Jeypore
marble, finely polished, and retaining all of
its original color. The roof is seventy feet
high from the marble terrace, and expands
in the centre into noble dome Of marble,
seventy feet in diameter.
This dome, which is visible to such
great distance from Agra, is itself 12O feet
in height, and when to this is added the
height of the building and the terraces, it
will appear that the gilt crescent at its apex
is 100 feet from the ground level. The
elaborate finish of the marble must be seen
to be appreciated. 1t is inlaid in the most
exquisite designs with black marble, jas
per, cornelian; turquoise, agate, garnets,
rock spar, loadstone, onyx, chalcedony,
amethyst and sapphires. Besides the floral
tracery thus inwrought, there are passages
from the Koran. Indeed, it is said that
the whole Koran is inlaid within or with
out the stately structure. The color of the
Tai differs, it is said, according to the state
of the atmosphere, sometimes appearing
slightly roseate, sometimes having a deli
cate blue or light yellow tinge, and in the
moonlight assuming ghostly white.
A POEM IN MARBLE.
There is grand entrance upon each
side, formed by pointed arch, the key
stone of which approaches the cornice.
There are also two smaller arches, one
above the other, on either side of the main
arch, and two more ON a similar plan upon
each of the four lesser sides of the build
ing There are also four graceful marble
cupolas grouped around the great dome,
one at each corner of the building
The tombs of Shah Iehan, the famous
builder and the Mumtag Mahal, his favor
ite queen, to commemorate whose death he
had the Tai built, are in sarcophagi Of rarc
beauty down in vault under the uain
floor. Above the floor are duplicate IN
tended for the purposes of display merely,
The great dome contains an echo that all
travellers Of note pronounce the finest in
tho world. ia9 exceeding in sweetness and
weait.i rf2-7asogauce r. tbe. famous echo in the
Baptistry of P1Sa. 81 this echo Bayard
Taylor has said something so neSsssyy Ss3ssy as to
make me envious: -
"a single musical note uttered by the
voice floats and scars overhead in long,
delicious undulation, fading away so slowly
that you hear it after it is silent-as you
see or seem to see lark you have been
watching after it is swallowed up in the
blue vault of heaven
A MAMMOTH FORT.
But the fame Of Agra is not based solely
upon the merits of this one wonderful
building, As the train crosses the i'm
mepse bridge over the Jumna and slowly
enters the handsome depot, you notice upon
your left vast structure in red sandstone,
which you at once recognize as the Agra
Fort. do not profess to be fierce war
rioress, or even competent judge in such
matters, but feel safe in affirming that
this mighty monument of pagan warfare,
bgilt a great many DECADES ago, would COM
pare faTorahly with any of our more ad-
vanced specimens of the same sort. 1t
challenges admiration, not only for its ma
jestic picturesqaeness, but also for its i'm
mense strength. The walls are sixty feet
in height, with crenolated battlements above
and frequent turrets. The outer rampant
and ravelin which once surrounded the
fort have yielded to the growth of the city;
but the inner moat, some thirty feet wide
and paved with stone, remains unchanged
There are two gates; but the one open
ing to the north, the Delhi gate, is the one
always selected by tourists. 1t is fanked
by two monster Oriental towers, which I
admire anew every time I pass them, A
long stone ascent leads up to spacious
court yard enclosed by arcades, which your
guide tells you was formerly the carousal
or tilt yard On one side is the famous
Dewaniam, the public Judgment hall of the
mighty Akbar, and just beyond it the De-
wanikhas, or private hall of audience,
THE PEARL MOSQUE.
Adjacent to the Dewaniam stands the
Mott Musjid, or Pearl Mosque. The,blue
sky is the roof of its court, while spotless
white marble lcomposes the foop and the
four sides, HeFe again the architecture is
Saraoenic, though singularly simple and
free from ornamentation. The great white
court opens into the corridor under the
dome by means of a triple row of arches.
The absence of anything that can possibly
SAVIOR of image-worship isSa most pleasing
feature of these mosques. A simple mar
Bile platform and steps, the whole not four
feet square, and silver plate, containing
few flowers, constituted the entire furni-
ture of this large auditorium.
Nothing can be more chastely beautiful
than this plain marble chamber. belieye
Mr.. Taylor remarked, after seeing it, that
he felt humbled because, as Christian, he
had to reflect that his religion had never
inspired its architects to surpass this tenn
pie to God and Mohammed. Others may
have felt the same humiliation There is
certainly something solemnly beautiful
about this open-air worship of'ahe Moham-
medans in the East, looking upon it as a
religious pageant simply. This pearl mosque |
was also built by Shah Jehap, Of Tai fame,
in the year 1896,
AKBARs IMPERIAL PALACE
1t remained to visit the Imperial Palace.
I |