The Moonlight Garden: New Discoveries at the Taj Mahal
Edited by ELIZABETH B. MOYNIHAN
Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in association with the University of Washington Press, 2000. 100 pages, $22.50 (paperback)
Janice Leoshko
Even for those who have never given Indian culture much thought, the Taj Mahal is familiar, perhaps overly so, and many may even think they know it well, having had it presented to them so repeatedly as a symbol of perfection, a testament of love, or a metaphor for something to be desired. One could wax on as to why the fame of the Taj Mahal is justly deserved-its proportions, its matchless craftsmanship, its innovation of plan in its presentation as perhaps a symbolic reference to the throne of God. Those more than vaguely familiar with the building know that it is not a palace-as is sometimes erroneously thought-but a tomb. They may even know that love of his deceased wife was only one of the many reasons why its Islamic patron, the seventeenth-century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, had it built. But rarely is the question raised as to what we do not know. The Moonlight Garden: New Discoveries at the Taj Mahal meets this question straight on, by discussing the recent discoveries concerning the existence of a garden across the river from the Taj Mahal.
The editor of this volume, Elizabeth Moniyhan, clearly outlines the argument for connecting the garden to the Taj Mahal. Perhaps the most persuasive evidence is the well-executed plans that show how this garden across the river aligns with the larger, forty-two acre garden of the Taj Mahal; the mention of this garden in a letter reporting on the condition of the Taj Mahal by Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb is also compelling. For some time, it has been known that many gardens bordered the Yamuna River along which the Taj Mahal is sited, but little investigation has occurred until now. Thus, recent work on this long-abandoned garden is most welcome, and thanks are due to the sponsors, the Archaeological Survey of India and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Also welcome is the collaborative nature of the project, which included a consideration of the evidence of actual plantings as well as the mechanics of moving water through this garden, named in Aurangzeb's letter the Mahtab Bagh, or Moonlight Garden. Moynihan, well-known for her previous work on Mughal gardens, provides a lucid overview of the importance of gardens for the Mughal dynasty, beginning with its founder, Babur, who moved into India from Central Asia in 1526. Weaving her tale from Babur's memoirs, other textual references, and illustrations in paintings from the prolific Mughal ateliers, as well as from her own keen observations of gardens and the building complexes to which they belonged, Moynihan has produced an excellent introduction to Mughal culture.
Her introductory essay establishes a solid base for the book's three remaining chapters, which detail some of the discoveries made during this recent research. The chapter by David L. Lentz, of the New York Botanical Gardens, is on botanical evidence; another, by James L. Wescoat, Jr., considers the waterworks and landscape design. The final essay, on the archaeological evidence of this particular garden, was co-authored by John M. Fritz and George Michell. These chapters work well together, giving a rich view of the Mahtab Bagh, whose notable features included a remarkable octagonal pool that was sited to reflect the image of the Taj Mahal. The essays are accompanied by an exciting array of photographs and plans that makes the scholarly discoveries accessible the general reader. However, it is unfortunate that certain worn assumptions are retained in the volume; perhaps the most unsettling occurs in the essay by Lentz in the statement that: "the plantings at the Mahtab Bagh during Mughal times bear more of an Indian imprint that a Mughal one." This seems to perpetuate the unfortunate image that the Mughals were somehow foreigners: while, indeed, their roots were foreign, by the seventeenth century this was hardly the case. Moreover, the Mughal tradition clearly mixes many others-Central Asian, Iranian, pre-Mughal Indian, and even European-to create something that is unique. It is this that the Taj Mahal and Mahtab Bagh celebrate, and it is this heritage that those who choose to see Islam as totally alien to India do not, wishing to perpetuate instead a myth of neat distinctiveness between the Muslim and Hindu populations of South Asia.
Since it is the nature of a work of art to allow many interpretations, it is important to consider why the view of the Taj Mahal as a testament to love has so dominated the discourse on this monument. One must bear in mind, as well, the recent study of the building by another scholar, Wayne Begley, which has led many observers to be equally insistent on viewing the Taj Mahal as simply a projection of dynastic power. Understanding the Taj Mahal in terms of the legend of Shah Jahan's conjugal devotion is, in fact, something that emerged after the British had gained control of the area of Agra in the early nineteenth century and is tied to specific interests in past Mughal glory. Clearly, the romantic qualities supposedly revealed by this sublime structure were at that time preferable to the aspects of the Taj Mahal that demonstrated the might of Mughal dynasty. Begley's studies as well as other recent work demonstrate, however, that Shah Jahan was deeply concerned with images of power. For example, the inscription on his last architectural project, the Jami Masjid in Delhi, declares that even those who have traveled throughout the world have never seen nor could imagine a greater building and that both the emperor and the land that he ruled are incomparable. The calligraphic panels ornamenting the Taj Mahal also contain Koranic passages that proclaim the reward promised to the faithful on the day of judgment, setting a tone that is hardly what one might expect for a monument solely dedicated to a beloved wife. But to simply replace one singular view of Shah Jahan with another is not necessarily progress.
There is no doubt that the Taj Mahal defines the might and legitimacy of the Mughal dynasty. But it was, after all, raised at the occasion of the death of a wife who was clearly a significant presence in the life of her husband. Attempts to deny Shah Jahan these feelings seem to continue a nineteenth-century view that reduced him to a caricature, although a romantic one. For a real understanding of the Taj Mahal, true progress will only occur when we can consider its many aesthetic and technical characteristics, through new discoveries and new consideration of old views, as contained in this illuminating study of the Mahtab Bagh.
Janice Leoshko is associate professor and assistant chair of the department of art and art history at the University of Texas at Austin.