Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-10-12

construction was commenced four years
after Ar5amand's demise
In keeping with an old Tartar Gus
ton, Il garden was chosen as the site
of the tOmb-a garden planted Win
flowers and fragrant shrubs, emDlemS
OF life, and solemn Expresses, enDlenlS
o. death ana eternity. In Mogul DAYS
such garden was maintained as
pleasure ground during the owners IRE
time. and used for his interment when
dead.
The Iaborers came from many parts
of the worid-the chief maSonS IRON
northern India and Bagdad, the dome
builders from Asiatic Turkey, and the
mosaic artists from Persia. Every
section OF India and Central Asia was
drawn upon for materials. The marble,
spotless in purity, was brought from
Javpore 300 miles away, on the backs
OF elephants and camels or by BULLOCK
carts. The red sandstone was contrl-
bnted by Fathpur Sikrij, one of the
Mogul capitals, the jasper by the Pu
lab, the crystal and jade by China.
The turquoises came from Tibet and
the Red Sea, the sapphires and lapis
lazuli from Ceylon. coral and corne-
liar from Arabia, onyx and amethyots
from Persia, and the diamonds from
BlndelkunG.
1t engaged the unceasing labor Of
10000 men for seventeen years to COM
p.cte the Tai; and like that other great
tomb, the Cheops Pyramid in Egypt
If was reared chiefly by forced labor,
unnaid and uncared for, and thereby
produced great suffering and mortal
itv This is the chief blemish on the
far fame of the mausoleum overlook
ing the Jumna.
.rhe Tai garden is perhaps a half
milo square. and is surrounded by a
strikingly beautiful wall of masonry
If is an orderly wilderness of rich
negotiations, to be found only in Asia.
AMI the deep green's and rich browns
of the avenues of foliage unquestion-
a9ly accentuate the whiteness of the
Tample of Death. As the garden helps
the tomb, so the tomb gives expression
to the garden.
The great gateway of led sandstone,
whose roof is adorned by Moorish
arches and pavilions, is in itself one
of Indfa's most perfect buildings. From
IFS summit a perfect view of the Tai
is had. with the Jumna flowing slug
g:shly beneath its marble platform;
aud from there the grounds are spread
before the visitor in perfect pan
ing to the magnificent pile, miles of
marble aqueducts filled with orna-
mental fish, playing fountains-all
breathe the superlative Of art, every
fiuttering leaf whispers o. the east
Not by its size is Arjlmand's tomb
commanding, for its dimensions are
very moderate. Imagine plinth of
fawless marble. 313 feet square and
rising IS feet from the ground-that
is the foundation of the wondrous
structure. The Tai is 1S6 feet square,
with dome rising TO an extreme height
OF go feet. At each corner of the
plinth stands a tapering minaret rear
ing its crown 137 feet.
No building carries the idea of PEI
solality further than the Tai, fem
mime personality, as it should be, for
1t contains no suggestion of the rug
CAD grandeur of a tomb for great
man. The Tai is the antithesis of the
Partnenon, of Napoleon's resting place,
of Grants robust mausoleum on the
Hudson. A sepulcher fashioned after
ordjr airy architectural canons can on'y
be conventional: the Tai is different
from all other buildings III the world;
it is symbolical OF womanly grace and
puIity-is the jewel, the ideal itself.