Taj Mahal Garden

Style: Persian
Divided Into: Four Parts
Canals: Two (crossing in the center)
Flowerbeds: Sixteen
Trees: Cyprus and Fruit-bearing Trees

The garden located in front of the Taj Mahal seems like a long passage to reach this magical monument. Walking on the narrow paths of this garden one would feel some serene experience before reaching the platform of Taj. The garden is a replica of the Persian model of Chahar Bagh that was introduced in India by the great Mughal Emperor Babar. It is divided into four parts by two long canals that facing the Taj Mahal.

Located inside the canals a wide ornamental pool of white marble projects the vaporous silhouette of the Taj Mahal as well as the outline of the elegant cypress trees.

Graceful fountains in the form of budding flowers adorn the smooth surface of the ornamental pool, which is fed ingeniously by network subterranean conduits. To the west of the sepulcher, reservoirs collect the waters of the Yamuna and feed the canals, ornamental pools and garden.

The gardens of this type (chahar bagh) are intended to be the earthy reflection of the Garden in Paradise popular in Islamic tradition. Thus the four canals after which the Chahar Bagh is named symbolizes the four rivers of paradise mentioned in the Qur’an and at present the Taj Mahal garden is only a pale reflection of its former glory in the days of the Great Mughal.