Beyond the Taj?

The most attractive feature that has surfaced in the constructed portion of the edifice is the Gothic series of pointed arches on the plain round pillars, says Arun Gaur

"WHEN it is complete, pralaya would come, so they never complete it," my grandmother, who currently resides at Dayal Bagh near the samadhi, tells me and then smiles. Many more would tell a similar story. The men with hoary beards have seen the artisans working since their childhood. I have myself seen the work in progress when the marble slabs were cut with hand-saws and the water poured over it through hand-held tubes — the operation which has been now overtaken by the modern mechanised cutting machines.

There is a high pile of marble stone on a side with big cranes lifting them from one spot and depositing them at another with a swing. I hear a loud crash, as the stone has slipped out of the ropes, then everything is normal once again. In a separate section artisans are working at their respective assigned jobs. It is almost a complete century now since the work started in 1904 and it is gradually changing its style. Thirty years ago a visitor could approach the areas where the various activities were being carried out, but now with modernisation, the workshop area is out of bounds for him.

The samadhi is being built in memory of Param Purush Puran Dhani Soami Ji Maharaj, who founded the Radha Soami sect in 1861. Its model in glass, kept in a locked room, shows that the three-storey building, based on 52 wells filled with brick and lime mortar, would be about 200 feet at its highest point from the ground level. Further, its 100 feet square platform would have a 100 feet high minaret at each corner.

Climbing up the platform, there one finds the inlay work of stone-opaque as well as semi-transparent; an infinite labour seems to have been spent on the multilayered foliage carved out in marble. There are flowers, fruits, vegetables: rose, sunflower, lotus, gourd, mango, grape and many more; and a few garland configurations and vases. The most striking and profuse is the leaf-work in its variegated shades.

The bunches of grapes hang, half-concealed behind the leaves that curve freely under the wafts of wind. There are the full-bloomed flowers displaying their splendour along side the half-opened tender buds or the tight ones ready to burst open. The best work is done on the leaves.

High above the arches there is an interplay of different shades of green in leaves and stems; the orange buds and blooming flowers shimmer in the semitransparent ground work. Sometimes, in clusters of a variety of roses bound in a garland, it becomes the sheer riot of colours, that in less artistic hands could easily have slipped out of control. One or two pieces of stones from the petals seem to have been scratched away.

Apart from this sculpture and inlay stone work, the most attractive feature that has surfaced in the constructed portion of the edifice is the Gothic series of pointed arches on the plain round pillars that would surround it on the ground floor and would be installed on the upper storeys too.

Particularly, the sculpture on the ground floor has become dusty and pale. Thirty years ago it was quite white as I notice in my black and white photographs taken then. They will of course turn white once again when polished at the completion of the project.

The chief engineer of the project tells me that it is an amalgamation of the Hindu, the Muslim and the Christian architecture. Friozne was the first designer. In 1912 Lala Totaram took over charge and the design was altered. In fact, with every subsequent change of the in charge, some alterations in the designs were carried out. The first, second and third storeys represent the three religions. While the arches are mainly derived from the Gothic or the Islamic traditions, the dome is basically Christian. On the top of the samadhi is the lotus — an ancient Hindu symbol.

Soon a sevak joins the discussion. To my inquiry: "Will it be completed soon?" he answers: "We are trying our best, as you can see yourself! But in such a project problems are always sure to arise. Sometimes the work proceeds very slowly or it halts altogether. This is what happened at the time of the World War. The work remained suspended for more than 20 years. What could we do? Nobody could help it!" He carries on: "Then another big problem relates to the artistes. Many of them spent their childhood with us, grew into their manhood and dedicated their entire life to the noble cause here. Their children, inspired by their fathers, followed their footsteps. But with the change in time new laws and regulations came into force. While in a majority of the cases these laws are largely beneficial, in our case they have worked to our detriment." "For instance?" "Take the example of the Child Employment Act. As I have just mentioned, the elderly artist at our project started teaching all the subtleties of his skill to his sons at a very tender i.e. the most impressionable age best for imbibing the spirit of art to be perfected gradually as they grow up. Of course, we also paid them. It helped everybody — the family working in the most wholesome of the conditions, the tradition and above all the project. And we greatly respected those artistes."

He continues: "You see, as far as we can do it, every artiste is given ample freedom. This has been particularly so with our traditional, age-old workers. He conceives himself the basic plan that he executes himself. There is no interference with his work. If he feels like showing the turning of leaf due to the wind, he is free to do it. Our artistes are permitted to be even moody or whimsical!"

"At some of the places, I have found that the semi-precious stones have disappeared," I raise my eyebrows. "Yes, that is true. There are stealers. Once I saw one European, may be an American, pour some acid like liquid over the inlaid flowerwork and the stone came out into his palm. We are on our guard, since then. You see, these stones, like the red and orange ones, have been specially requisitioned from countries like Onam and the removed pieces are now almost impossible to be replaced".

"There is a general impression, that your monument would be the second Taj or even surpass that in its beauty." But the sevak denies it straightaway: "We don’t entertain any conception like that. No sense of competition! It simply cannot be in such a religious activity. Too narrow a thought ! We are simply offering our heart, our energy and our money to this memorial — the tribute to the greatness of our guru. That’s all."

It is the best sculpted work in marble that I have seen so far. Though the stone work at the Taj done in relief is not as good, its pietra-durra work might be better at places, especially near the upper rim of the screen around the graves. Again, on a broader canvas, the inlay work is better at the samadhi. What would have those artistes, who sculpted temples more than a thousand years back in hard granite and sand-stones, done had they been provided with the softer medium of marble, I wonder.

In the early Hindu art, too, both animals and vegetation images were depicted freely. Thus, Hindus, perhaps ,never abstained from the animate-motifs all over India. And the Muslims of Agra in particular, excepting Aurangzeb, did like-wise.

What is the unconscious link between the ancient Arabic canonical structures, the medieval Mughals of Agra and the modern art of the samadhi in this very city?