The gates of Somnath, twelve feet high, were beautiful pieces of carving. They once guarded the entrance to the temple of Krishna, in Goojerat; but in the tenth century they were carried off by Sultan Mahmoud, of Ghuzni, in Afghanistan. He captured Somnath, and destroyed all the idols. The Brahmins offered him immense bribes if he would spare the statue of Krishna; but he spurned the money, and destroyed the image with his own hands. He found that it was hollow, and filled with jewels of great value.
When the English conquered Afghanistan, Lord Ellenborough sent the gates to Agra; but some think they were not the gates of the temple, but of Mahmoud's tomb, for they were made of a wood that does not grow in India, and they are not of Hindu workmanship. From the museum the party walked to the imperial palace of Akbar, still in an excellent state of preservation. Some of the apartments, especially the bath-room of the monarch, made the visitors think of the Arabian Nights.
The great black marble slab on which Akbar sat to administer justice was pointed out. When one of the Jat chiefs seated himself upon it, the story goes, it cracked, and blood flowed from the fracture. Lord Ellenborough tried the experiment, and the stone broke into two pieces. The Mosque of Pearls is a small building of white marble on a rose-colored platform. It is considered by experts the finest piece of architecture in the fortress. Nothing could be simpler, nothing grander. Bishop Heber visited it and wrote this of it:--
"This spotless sanctuary, showing such a pure spirit of adoration, made me, a Christian, feel humbled, when I considered that no architect of our religion had ever been able to produce anything equal to this temple of Allah."
Following the Jumna, the carriages reached the Taj, the wonder and glory of all India. It was built by the Emperor Shah Jehan, as a mausoleum for the Empress Mumtazi Mahal. She was not only beautiful, but famous for mental endowments; and the emperor had so much love and admiration for her that he determined to erect to her memory the most beautiful monument that had ever been constructed by any prince. It was begun in 1630, and twenty thousand workmen were employed upon it for seventeen years. History says that one hundred and forty thousand cartloads of pink sandstone and marble were brought from the quarries of Rajputana; and every province of the empire furnished precious stones to adorn it. Its cost was from ten to fifteen millions of dollars.
The golden crescent of the Taj is two hundred and seventy feet above the level of the river. The magnificent temple is placed in the centre of a garden nine hundred and sixty feet long by three hundred and thirty in width, filled with avenues flanked with cypress-trees, and planted with flowers, on a terrace of sandstone. In the centre of this garden is a marble platform, two hundred and eighty-five feet on all sides, and fifteen feet high, which may be called the pedestal of the mosque. The principal entrance to the garden is more elaborate and beautiful than the fronts of many noted mosques, for it is adorned with towers crowned with cupolas.
Entering the enclosure, and walking along the avenue of cypress-trees, one obtains his first view of the great dome of the Taj. It looks like about three-fourths of a globe, capped with a slender spire. From this point, through the trees, may be seen a forest of minarets, cupolas, towers, and inferior domes. The mausoleum is in the form of an irregular octagon, the longest side being one hundred and twenty feet in length. Each façade has a lofty Saracenic arch, in which is an entrance.
The interior surpasses the exterior in magnificence, the ceiling, walls, and tombstones being a mass of mosaics. The resting-place of the empress and Shah Jehan is in the centre of the edifice, enclosed by a marble screen. Some experts who have examined the building thoroughly are unable to find any architectural faults, though perhaps others would be more successful. The party visited several other mosques and mausoleums; but nothing could compare with the Taj. The commander suggested that they ought to have visited it last, as the pie or pudding comes in after the fish or meats at Von Blonk Park.
The members of the party were unable to say enough in praise of the Taj, and no one seems to be in danger of exaggerating its beauty and its wonders. On their return to the hotel, they seated themselves in their parlor, and talked till dinner-time about the mausoleum, for they had many questions to ask of the viscount and the Hindu gentleman.
"There seemed to be two other mosques back of the mausoleum," said Mrs. Belgrave; "we did not visit them."