|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three things oppressed us in the land of Hind – its heat, its violent winds, its dust". Such was the lament of Babur, the first Mughal emperor when he reached India. Brought up in the traditional cool shady and luxuriant "Paradise Gardens" of Persia and Samarkand, he found the dry plains of North India colourless and visually dull. On settling down, his thoughts turned towards bringing the blessings of water to its arid and dry landscapes. And thus sprouted one of the greatest landscape traditions of the world — the Mughal gardens. These majestic playgrounds of the emperors, with geometrical layouts symbolise the assertion of a man-made order over the organic waywardness of nature. Origins of the Mughal gardens Babur, after wining the battle of Panipat, settled down and paid personal attention to "Bringing the bliss of water to the thirsty land of Hind". In fact, one of the Mughal miniature paintings beautifully depicts the scene of Babur personally supervising the layout of a garden at Kabul. Fascinated by the gardens of Timur at his native Samarkand and Herat, Babur planned small gardens along his campaign trail in India. Amongst these, the mostly notable is Ram Bagh at Agra – perhaps originally called Aram Bagh. Mughal gardens in India had four essential elements: Water for irrigation display and sound; trees for shade; flowers for scent and colour; and music to delight the ear. The ensemble of these elements created an ethereal unearthly ambience. It gave presence to the Islamic vision of paradise upon the face of earth. The basic geometrical module of a Mughal garden is the quadrant called charbagh, with water channels dividing the garden into four symbolic sections. The cross thus formed facilitated easy irrigation and represented the meeting of God with man. A more complex symbol – the octagon, also frequently used in the layout of Mughal gardens – represented the eight divisions of the Koran. Thus, the Mughal gardens in their layouts combine functional network for irrigation with ornamental patterns of landscaping, that are imbued with religious significance. While the basic theme of Paradise Garden, originating in Persia, transformed into Mughal gardens on reaching India; and another off-shoot of these "Formal Gardens" spread to Europe as Moorish gardens in Spain, and as Renaissance Gardens in Italy and France. The grand scale of the Versailles Gardens built by Louis XIV and designed by Le Notre are the foremost significant example of this style. The powerful vistas formed by the clipped trees along with water canals are inspired by the bilateral symmetry of the Mughal gardens. Paradise & tomb gardens Besides the concept of a "Paradise Garden", another theme for creating Mughal gardens was the practice of making elaborate tomb gardens. It was customary at that time, for a tomb to be raised in the lifetime of a person. It was subsequently handed over to the priests. Most important among the tomb gardens is the wonder of Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal at Agra, besides others of Humayun at Delhi and of Akbar at Sikandra built between the 17th century and 18th Century. The basic layout of the tomb garden is the same with a central axis canal linking the entrance gateway to the focal structure. The rest of the garden is a mesh of charbagh or quadrants with water canals, walkways and plantation. A major feature is a large reflective pool in front of the tomb to impart an ethereal dimension to the beauty of its architecture. This perhaps is experienced at its best in the gardens of the Taj Mahal. However, the piece de resistance of all Mughal gardens is at Kashmir, where they achieved their greatest splendour. Compared to the dry lands from where the Paradise Garden evolved, Kashmir appeared as paradise itself with its abundance of water. As such, the challenge for the designers here was more of creating an imaginative use of water than of the ingenuity required for raising it and preserving it. Water could be made to rise in fountains fall in cascades or be used for making limpd pools that reflected the mighty chinars. The Shalimar Gardens, the most celebrated of the Kashmir Gardens are approachable both by road and water, but to savour the full visual delight of the layout of the gardens, it is better to go by boat. One enters the gardens at the lower most level, which is laid out on terraces. Each terrace has a particular function. A central canal form-square pools forms the major axis of the gardens. This axis is traversed by a series of perpendicular avenues leading to the cool and shady chinar trees. Pinjore Gardens Surprisingly enough, towards the decline of the Mughal era, a remarkable garden was laid out at Pinjore – a hot and dusty place far from the cool clime of Kashmir, but with much in common with its gardens. The Yadavindra Gardens or Pinjore Gardens, located near Chandigarh on the Delhi-Shimla highway, were built by Fidai Khan the cousin-general of Aurangzeb in the 18th Century. Finding a beautiful sloping site, ringed by the blue Shivalik hills, Fidai Khan planned a garden with seven terraces, that unveiled its visual experience at once from the highest terrace, unlike the gradual unfolding of the vistas at Kashmir. A central canal with fountains is employed for cooling and visual sensuousness with such skill that there is almost a chorographic artistry in its movements. It flows down on textured chutes called Chadars, sloping at an angle so as to create the maximum sparkle and shimmer with the rays of the sun. In the evening, as the sun sets, the gentle breeze wafts through the orchards and gets laden with cooling moisture through the fountains scudding water into the air. It flows through the arcaded pavilions and the central podium surrounded by water for the evening pleasures of his Majesty, the then ruler. Thus the Mughal gardens are the best examples of natural air conditioning created by the ingenuity of the ancient builders. The Mughal period — an era of drama, pageantry and splendour — left behind indelible footprints on the sands of time with its magnificent monuments. But, perhaps, nothing quite epitomises its quintessential sprit as symbolically as the grand gardens. For, they combine in them the regalia of man with the resplendence of nature. — The writer, former Principal of the Chandigarh College of Architecture, has also co-authored Trees of Chandigarh & Sukhna —Sublime Lake of Chandigarh
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
