Heaven on Earth: An Analysis of the Taj Mahal
Word Count: 3851
A mausoleum, a memorial, a “tear drop on the cheek of time,” in the words of
poet Rabindranath Tagore, the Taj Mahal (1632-53) is a feat of Islamic architecture, a
gem in the rich, syncretic history of Mughal India.1 Designed as the final resting place of
Mumtaz Mahal, wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the site is regarded at once as a
labour of love and a monument to the wealth and power of the Mughals.2 An exquisite
work of architectural and artistic prowess, the Taj is steeped in religious symbolism and
paradisiacal references and allusions. By analysing the complex’s garden structure, floral
ornamentation, and calligraphic decoration, I will put forth the argument that the Taj
Mahal is an earthly representation of jannah (heaven/paradise), as depicted in the Islamic
tradition.
The Taj complex, set upon the river Yamuna in Agra is composed, broadly, of the
main tomb, set between a guesthouse on the left, known as the Mihman Khana, and a
mosque on the right (Figure 1). The complex is housed within a 300-square meter (980
square feet) charbagh: a quadrilateral garden, hailing from the Persian architectural
tradition, divided into quarters by avenues or flowing water (Figure 2). Walkways dotted
with cypress trees as well as canals of water run along the four sections. A paradisiacal
garden, the Taj Mahal’s charbagh is an extended metaphor for the reproduction of
heaven on earth. Wayne E. Begley explains, ‘Persian gardens in general, and Mughal
garden tombs in particular, are often described metaphorically in Persian poetry and
inscriptions as being like Paradise.’3 The layout of the Taj charbagh finds its closet
predecessors in Shah Jahan’s great-grandfather Emperor Humayun’s tomb (1565-1572)
1 Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’, p. 7. 2 Migeon and Saladin, Art of Islam, p. 94. 3 Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’, 1979, p. 11.
(Figure 3). From the structure the Taj borrows the late Timurid tradition of having rows
of fountains across the waterfront garden, suggesting the structure was one in an
evolution of Mughal funerary art. The charbagh in its original Persian conception was to
be paradisiacal in form and thus its repeated use in imperial tombs suggests a royal
interest in connecting the grace and majesty of the divine to the power of the emperor.4 If
the power of God was, indeed, limitless and His bounty in heaven plentiful, then who
besides the great emperor could bestow his riches and resources to reproduce it?
Figure 1: Taj Mahal, 1632-53, Agra, India (Photo:
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/Taj_Mahal.htm)
4 Koch, ‘The Taj Mahal’, p. 128.
Figure 2: Taj Mahal (view of charbagh), 1632-53, Agra, India (Photo:
https://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/38582?show=full)
Figure 3: Emperor Humayun’s tomb (view of charbagh), 1565-1572, New Delhi,
India (Photo: http://www.voyagerboheme.com/humayuns-tomb/)
Depicted throughout the Qur’an (the holy book of Islam, composed of God’s
words as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel) and Hadith
(sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) as a garden, replete with flowing rivers and ever-
blooming flora, heaven comes to life through the Taj. The complex’s charbagh fashions
into form the promise of the second ayah (verse) of Surah al-Baqarah, the second chapter
of the Qur’an; in it, God states, ‘[O Prophet] Give good tidings to those who believe and
do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow.’5
The Taj garden also takes from a famous hadith, relayed by the Prophet Muhammad after
his Mi’raaj or miraculous ascension into heaven: ‘I saw four rivers flowing out from
beneath Sidrat al-Muntaha [the Lote Tree which marks the end of the seventh and highest
heaven].’6 The four rivers of heaven are represented through the four canals of the
charbagh (char meaning four and bagh garden). The Taj diverges from the classic
charbagh, both in its original Persian conception and as the Mughal waterfront garden,
by having the prominent feature of the structure – the tomb – situated at the end of the
oblong complex, rather than in the centre.7 Babur’s tomb (1528), for example, had its
main building as its focal piece. The centre of the Taj’s charbagh is occupied, instead, by
a marble water tank named al-Hawd al-Kawthar (Figure 4). In first ayah of Surah al-
Kawthar, the 108th chapter of the Qur’an, God explains to the Prophet Muhammad,
‘Verily, We have granted you [O Muhammad] al-Kawthar [a river in Paradise].’8 The
river is said in numerous hadith to continually replenish a cistern which will forever grant
5 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 2:25. 6 Imam Muslim, Sahih Muslim: 6807. 7 Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’, p. 11. 8 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 108:01.
cool water to the Muslims; fittingly, kawthar means abundance in Arabic.9 The al-Hawd
al-Kawthar (The Tank of Abundance) of the Taj charbagh is named in direct reference to
the eponymous river in heaven.10 Given such locational significance, the architectural
feature is a symbol of the divine on earth. Set apart from the four other garden
waterways, the tank offers a key addition to the heavenly garden metaphor manifest
throughout the charbagh. By having the tank in the centre, the innovative and meaningful
creation of the Taj is emphasised. Such a marked difference from earlier Mughal works
stresses the purposeful structuring of the complex and its garden to arguably reflect
heaven in a manner more vividly and closer to scripture than before.11
Figure 4: Taj Mahal (view of al-Hawd al-Kawthar), 1632-53, Agra, India (Photo:
http://www.taj-mahal.net/newtaj/textMM/GardensParadise.html)
9 Imam Muslim, Sahih Muslim: 4255. 10 Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’, p. 26. 11 Parodi, ‘Distilled Essence’, p. 538.
The intimate ties between the garden of paradise – jannah, the word for heaven in
Arabic, also means garden – and the garden of man were certainly not lost on the Mughal
architects.12 The word ‘paradise’ itself comes from the Persian pairidaeza, a compound
construction of pairi (around) and daeza (wall or space); the word eventually entered
Arabic, via the Greek paradeisos, as firdaus – the highest level of heaven.13 Official court
historian Abd al-Hamid Lahawri confirms the purposeful likening of the Taj charbagh to
firdaus, writing in his account of Shah Jahan’s rule, ‘the exalted mausoleum […] imitates
the gardens of Rizwan [the guardian angel of Paradise], and […] gives an impression of
Paradise.’14 The Mughal tombs which preceded the Taj similarly espoused the connection
between the earthly and the divine garden. An inscription on the gateway of Emperor
Akbar’s tomb (1605-1613), with which Taj shares multiple design similarities as well as
a calligrapher, Amanat Khan, reads, ‘These are the gardens of Eden, enter them to live
forever!’ 15 In contrast to this arguably boastful and unsubtle declaration glazed upon
Emperor Akbar’s tomb – the words being the last the beholder reads before entering the
emperor’s resting place – the Taj opts for a more symbolic artistry. Amanat Khan, who
composed the inscriptions on Emperor Akbar’s tomb, including the aforementioned
invitation on the gateway, chose instead to use Qur’anic verses in the decoration of the
Taj.16 The Taj extends the paradisiacal metaphor beyond that of its predecessor to
replicate more fully the Qur’anic exegesis of paradise.
12 De Lafayette, Thesaurus Lexicon of Similar Words, p. 149. 13 Hobhouse, Hunningher, and Harpur, Gardens of Persia. Kales Press, pp. 7–13. 14 Lahawri, The Badshahnamah. Cited in Ebba Koch. ‘The Taj Mahal’, p. 144. 15 Khan. Cited in Edmund W. Smith. Akbar’s Tomb, p. 35. 16 Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’, p. 13.
The ornamentation, interior and exterior, of the mausoleum expands on the central
theme of the heavenly garden. A variety of mediums – painted stucco, parchin kari
(inlaid pietra dura), and munabbat kari (uncoloured high relief) – are used to breath
divine essence into the man-made structure. Painted stucco flowers bloom along the
highest spandrel (the space between an arch and its enclosure) of the entrance iwan (a
vaulted hall or space open on one side), to the pockets of space between the calligraphy
of the lower walls. These blossoms intersect with geometric vines, saturating the structure
with careful symbolism. The naturalistic motifs that run along the walls, in particular the
dado (the lower part of the wall), of the tomb complement the flowing thuluth (a cursive
style of Arabic in which one-third of each letter is written at a slant) of the calligraphic
detail, offering a pleasing unity of design (Figure 5). Such visual harmony follows the
qarina scheme associated with Shah Jahan’s reign; Ebba Koch defines the style as, ‘two
symmetrical features, one mirroring the other […] arranged on both sides of a central,
dominant feature.’17 The qarina scheme takes from Timurid principles of design, in
which geometric patterns and well-proportioned, symmetrical designs were seen as
indicators of divine harmony and peace. 18 The painted flora of the Taj is notably non-
descript, unidentifiable with any specific plant on earth. Such a design affords an other-
worldly aura to the vegetation, reinforcing its paradisiacal origins – the garden of the Taj
is unlike any that we would see in this life.
17 Koch, ‘The Taj Mahal’, p. 139. 18 Sobti. ‘Taj Mahal’, p. 393.
Figure 5: Taj Mahal (view of dados), 1632-53, Agra, India (Photo: http://www.taj-
mahal.net/newtaj/textMM/Dados.html)
Yellow marble, jasper, and jade stones form sparkling designs in a form of
parchin kari, which is the art of arranging stones to create an image (Figure 6).
Complementing the semiprecious stone designs is munabbat kari, a form of carving in
which figures protrude only slightly from their background surface (Figure 7). The
marble of the munnabat kari flowers gleams, reflecting the jeweled beauty of the parchin
kari arabesques. The parchin kari and munnabat kari designs recall ayahs twenty-eight to
thirty-three of Surah Waqi’ah, the fifty-sixth chapter of the Qur’an, and its promises of
ever-green vegetation in paradise: ‘Trees, one above another, and extended shade, and
water flowing constantly, and abundant fruit, neither intercepted nor forbidden.’19 Also
recalled is the seventh through ninth ayahs of Surah Qaf, the fiftieth chapter of the
Qur’an, in which God exclaims, ‘And the earth – We spread it out [..] and made grow
19 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 56: 28-33.
therein [something] of every beautiful kind. Giving insight and a reminder for every
servant […] We have sent down blessed rain from the sky and made grow thereby
gardens.’20 The filling of the building with natural motifs serves further as a tribute to the
natural beauty of the world and its conception as a divine blessing in Islam. Gardens,
whether on earth or in heaven, are ayat or signs of God’s existence and might, as well as
His love for His Creation. The vegetation of this world, however, is no match for the
fields of jannah, where flora blooms unperturbed in an endless spring and the pulchritude
of nature reaches its zenith. The cenotaphs of the Emperor and his wife make evident the
dedication to the paradisiacal theme; Mumtaz’s resting place showcases a balance of
calligraphic inscriptions alongside floral detailing, with the latter dominating her upper
cenotaph. Shah Jahan’s cenotaphs, upper and lower, display a marked preference for
parchin kari over calligraphic decoration (Figure 8).21 The exploration of the floral motif
in every aspect of the Taj’s ornamentation reinforces the plenteous nature of heaven; the
beholder is spoiled for choice in terms of alluring sights of flowers, painted, carved, and
jeweled, across the mausoleum.
20 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 50: 7-9. 21 Koch, ‘The Taj Mahal’, p. 147.
Figure 6: Taj Mahal (view of parchin kari), 1632-53, Agra, India (Photo:
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietra_dura#/media/File:India-6190_-_Flickr_-
_archer10_(Dennis).jpg)
Figure 7: Taj Mahal (view of munnabat kari) 1632-53, Agra, India (Photo:
https://www.robertharding.com/index.php?lang=en&page=search&s=shah&smode=0&z
oom=1&display=5&sortby=1&bgcolour=white)
Figure 8: Taj Mahal (view of Shah Jahan’s cenotaph, right), 1632-53, Agra, India
(Photo: http://searchoflife.com/taj-mahal-a-symbol-of-love-2013-12-04)
The mausoleum interior, in particular, draws out the metaphor of paradise to its
grandest end: a timeless, ever-blooming garden guarding the graves of Shah Jahan and
Mumtaz.22 Unlike the surrounding charbagh, the ornamental, lyrical garden of the Taj’s
inner walls is eternal. Detailing along the interior is once again formed by parchin kari
and painted stucco on the plinths of the inner iwans, more intricate and delicate than that
of the exterior. Devoid of figural representation, the ‘aniconic floral imagery’ of the Taj
follows the storied preference in Islamic art for vegetal and geometric embellishment
over human faces or portraiture.23 The vast swaths of emptiness that permeate the
mausoleum interior serve a central purpose in the grand design of the structure. The
22 Koch, ‘The Taj Mahal’, p. 142. 23 Necipoğlu and Payne, Histories of Ornament, p. 138.
ostensible simplicity of the negative space, so to speak, draws the beholder’s attention
instead to the floral detailing. Seyyed Hossein Nasr concurs that the lack of distraction
from literalistic depictions of humans, ‘bestow[s] upon emptiness within the space of
Islamic architecture a spiritual significance of the greatest importance.’24 The focus of the
viewer’s sight rests solely upon the ornamentation of the structure, reinforcing the
centrality of the paradisiacal imagery. Ebba Koch adds, ‘the delicate flowers that appear
on the dados, at the eye level of the beholder […] transform the lower walls of the
mausoleum into ever-blooming paradisiacal flowerbeds.’25 The purposeful placing of the
ornamentation at eye-level dismisses any claims of coincidence in the decoration of Taj;
the flowers of the earthly paradise were crafted to be seen, observed and noted. Like the
ayat (signs) of God’s bounty on earth, the paradisiacal vegetal motifs of the mausoleum
remind the beholder of the power of the Creator and the fate that awaits Shah Jahan and
Mumtaz in heaven. The purpose and message of the Taj Mahal’s conception is brought to
fruition in every portion of its design – its meaning blooms, quite literally, ever-green in
its ornamentation.
The heavenly imagery of the Taj finds, arguably, its clearest voice in the careful
calligraphy of Abd al-Haqq of Shiraz, also known as Amanat Khan. Court records
suggest that Khan, responsible for the inscriptions on both the Taj and Emperor Akbar’s
tomb, chose personally the twenty-two Qur’anic passages which adorn the mausoleum.26
Composed in black marble and jasper parchin kari, the carefully selected passages
confirm the purposeful likening of the Taj to paradise.27 Begley confirms, ‘The choice of
24 Nasr, Islamic Art and Spirituality, p. 46. 25 Koch, ‘The Taj Mahal’ p. 145. 26 Begley, ‘Calligraphy on the Taj Mahal’, p. 25. 27 Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’, p. 12.
these Qur’anic passages was deliberate, and not haphazard.’28 A synthesis of the themes
raised in the physical structure and ornamentation of the complex, the calligraphic
detailing offers the clearest source material for the design of the complex. Rife with
descriptions of heaven and its beauty, the inscriptions form the final piece of the man-
made rendering of paradise. The fragments of Qur’an that line the white walls and
cenotaphs of the Taj discuss, broadly, the beauty and sights of jannah, God’s boundless
mercy, the spoils of paradise as reserved for the believers, and the Day of Judgement.29
By prominently displaying this assortment of surahs (chapters of the Qur’an), Khan
reveals the heavenly model upon which the complex is directly structured and designed.
Forming a fluid succession of ideas, the eschatologically focused passages create a
cohesive statement of purpose for the building. They are to be taken and understood
together, complementing and reinforcing the individual meaning of one another.30
Alongside aesthetic appeal and display of Amanat Khan’s mastery, the grand thuluth
calligraphy serves critically to refine, in writing, the glimpses of paradise that the
waterfront garden and floral decoration of the complex physically recall.
By walking through the mausoleum, the beholder not only undergoes a journey
through an earthly paradise, but also through the heart of the Qur’an. Beginning at the
eight arched openings of the domed hall, octagonal in shape, one notes the gateway
adorned with four surahs (chapters of the Qur’an). The last words the beholder reads
before entering the hall are also the single occasion in the Qur’an where God invites
directly the faithful into heaven: ‘O thou soul at peace. Return thou unto thy Lord, well-
28 Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’, p. 13. 29 Begley and Desai, Taj Mahal: The Illumined Tomb, pp. 195-244. 30 Begley, ‘Calligraphy on the Taj Mahal’, p. 8.
pleased and well-pleasing unto Him! Enter thou among My servants – And enter thou My
Paradise!’31 This selection is taken from ayahs twenty-seven to thirty-three of Surah al-
Fajr, the eighty-ninth chapter of the Qur’an, and covers the south façade of the main Taj
gateway (Figure 9). The entirety of the surah discusses, as is common in the Qur’an, the
hellfire and suffering which awaits the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement in contrast
to the goodness and everlasting joy which awaits the believers.32 The fourth ayah of
Surah ad-Duha, the ninety-third chapter of the Qur’an, too adorns the gateway of the
mausoleum, offering a clear reminder to onlooker: ‘The Hereafter is better for you than
the first [life].’33 The life of the coming world, of heaven and hell, is more valuable than
the transient and ephemeral one of this world; such a thesis is found throughout Islamic
tradition and is offered as a potent reminder in the form of the charbagh and the floral
detailing – symbols of the Hereafter.34 The emphasis upon the Hereafter is evident in the
selection of passages; an undertone of apocalyptic envisioning graces the entrance to the
inner hall, preparing the beholder, as well as Mumtaz and Shah Jahan, for the journey
through the Day of Judgement to the reward of the afterlife of the faithful.
31 Begley, ‘Calligraphy on the Taj Mahal’, p. 35. 32 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 89:25. 33 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 93:4. 34 Sajoo, Companion to Muslim Cultures, p. 19.
Figure 9: Taj Mahal (view of gateway detailing Surah al-Fajr), 1632-53, Agra, India
(Photo: Wayne E. Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’)
Entering the mausoleum, the reader gazes upon the entirety of Surah Ya-Sin, the
thirty-sixth chapter of the Qur’an, and its rich description of paradise; ayahs fifty-five to
fifty-six detail in particular the visions of reward for the faithful: ‘Indeed the companions
of Paradise, that Day, will be amused in [joyful] occupation. They and their spouses - in
shade, reclining on adorned couches.’35 The surah also redirects attention to the vegetal
detailing of the mausoleum, reminding the reader of God’s mercy as manifest in the plant
life of the world in ayahs thirty-three to thirty-four: ‘And a sign [of God’s might] for
35 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 36: 55-56.
them is the dead earth. […] We placed therein gardens of palm trees and grapevines and
caused to burst forth therefrom some springs.’36 Such a reference harkens back to the
floral detailing of the mausoleum and its appreciation for natural beauty. The eighth ayah
of Surah al-Bayyinah, the ninety-eighth chapter, graces the tomb exterior and promises
the faithful an alluring vision of paradise, replete with a reference to the flowing water of
the charbagh: ‘Their [the faithful’s] reward with Allah will be gardens of perpetual
residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever.’37 The Qur’anic
calligraphy of the interior not only supports the overall theme of paradise, but also offers
additional backing to the other features of the complex, suggesting remarkable
interconnectedness and forethought in the planning of the structure.
The tomb interior is decorated with verses which further describe paradise and
delineate the nature of those who will enter it from those who will not. Official Mughal
court historian Abd al-Hamid Lahwari’s boast, at the time of Shah Jahan’s reign, that the
Taj was to, ‘until the Day of Resurrection remain,’ complements the inscribed passages
promising heavenly reward to the patient.38 In being created for the patient believers, the
Taj was built to survive until the end of time. Such an example would be ayahs eleven to
twelve of Surah al-Insan, the seventy-sixth chapter of the Qur’an, running along the tomb
interior. It claims that God, ‘will reward them [the faithful] for what they patiently
endured [with] a garden [in Paradise].’39 Gazing upon the upper cenotaph of Mumtaz, the
beholder notes the eighth ayah of Surah Ghafir, the fortieth chapter, quote the only
occasion in the Qur’an where the angels who guard God’s kursi (throne) speak,
36 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 36: 33-34. 37 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 98:8. 38 Lahwari, The Badshahnamah. Cited in Ebba Koch. ‘The Taj Mahal’, p. 128. 39 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 76:11-12.
imploring, ‘And allow them [the faithful], O Lord! to enter the Gardens of Eden which
Thou has promised unto them!’(Figure 10).40 Presumably a prayer for the Empress, the
inscription alludes notably to the gardens of heaven, as opposed to, say, general notions
of the afterlife. Such a choice reaffirms the centrality of the vision of the paradisiacal
garden in the conception of the Taj. In commissioning the mausoleum, Shah Jahan
realised the dream of his great-grandfather Emperor Humayun, who in 1533 elucidated
his wish to create a palace seven stories high, bordered by a rich, blooming garden.41 The
twelfth ayah of Surah al-Fussilat, the forty-first chapter of the Qur’an, runs along
Mumtaz’s upper cenotaph and dictates heaven as having seven levels: ‘And He [God]
completed them as seven heavens within two days’.42 The vivid image of the seven levels
of heaven is repeated in the Qur’an, appearing again in the last ayah of Surah at-Talaq,
the sixty-fifth chapter: ‘It is Allah who has created seven heavens and of the earth, the
like of them.’43 The intimate ties between Emperor Humayun’s vision and the seven
heavens of Islam are thus re-emphasised on Mumtaz’s grave. The royal interest in
representations of paradise found, arguably, their zenith in the planning and execution of
the Taj. Upon reaching the lower cenotaphs, the beholder finds further promises of
paradise; an inscription on Shah Jahan’s cenotaph, in particular, reads, ‘firdaus ashiyani’,
meaning in Persian the one nesting in highest level of Paradise.44 The promises of the
passages are to be a message of comfort to the faithful, including the Shah Jahan and
Mumtaz.
40 Begley, ‘Myth of the Taj Mahal’, p. 28. 41 Jairazbhoy, ‘Context of East and West’, p. 82. 42 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 41:12. 43 Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an 65:12. 44 Jairazbhoy, ‘Context of East and West’, p. 83.
Figure 10: Taj Mahal (view of Mumtaz’s upper cenotaph), 1632-53, Agra, India (Photo:
http://www.indianetzone.com/34/calligraphy_taj_mahal_taj_mahal.htm)
Despite their shared eschatological subject matter, the Qur’anic passages adorning
the interior contrast and clash in tone. The gateway’s invitation to paradise turns to
foreboding and apocalyptic visions of the Day of Judgement in the tomb exterior before
once again returning on the tomb interior and cenotaphs to whispers of paradise. As one
moves closer to the heart of mausoleum – the resting place of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz –
the warnings of God’s wrath fade into comforting reminders of the next life. The
assortment of surahs offer a diverse cross-section of the Qur’an as well as expand in
discourse and dialogue the symbolism of the Taj complex. Begley explains, ‘the thrust of
the entire inscriptional program is to compare the tomb and its garden to the celestial
Paradise, of which they are symbolic replicas – the gateway a replica of the gateway of
Paradise, the gardens replicas of the celestial gardens’.45 The journey through the Taj is a
journey through revelation and Islam; the Qur’anic passages build upon one another in a
crescendo, culminating in a seamless rendering of heaven.
The magnificence of the Taj’s careful design and seamless structure invite the
onlooker to contemplate its deeper meaning – an Islamic symbolism that permeates every
aspect of the complex. The complex is to be at once a sanctuary for Empress Mumtaz’s
soul (and later for Shah Jahan, as well), a reprieve on the journey into the next world, as
well as the destination itself. The defining features of the Taj – its charbagh, floral
ornamentation, and Qur’anic calligraphy – stress the connection between the mausoleum
complex and the Islamic vision of paradise. They recreate, or perhaps preemptively
envision, the hopeful resting place of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz in jannah. An attempt,
grand indeed, by man to capture the essence of God, the complex is an earthly paradise.
Teeming with heavenly imagery, its physical structure, decoration, and scriptural
detailing realise the Qur’anic visions of the afterlife. A veritable masterpiece, the Taj
Mahal is a landmark work in the corpus of Islamic art.
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