MUGHAL GARDENSA group of gardens built by the Mughals in the

Persian style of architecture.

HISTORY

The founder of the Mughal empire, BABUR , described his favourite type of garden as a CHARBAGH.

(dividing the garden into four equal quarters)

Akbar’s heir, JAHANGIR, did not build as much, but he helped to lay out the famous Shalimar garden and was known for his great love for flowers.

Jahangir's son, SHAH JAHAN, marks the apex of Mughal garden architecture and floral design.

He is famous for the construction of the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort which contains the Mahtab bagh.

Humayun, his son, does not seem to have had much time for building.

Akbar built several gardens first in Delhi, then in Agra, Akbar’s new capital.

These tended to be riverfront gardens rather than the fortress gardens that his predecessors built.

Building riverfront rather than fortress gardens influenced later Mughal garden architecture considerably.

FEATURES

1. Significant use of rectilinear layouts are made within the walled enclosures.

2. Typical features include pools, fountains and canals inside the gardens.

3. Had handsome walls and great gateways More like forts than gardens City was pleasantly adorned

4. Most important feature of Mughal garden is Char Bagh planning.

5. Mughals were obsessed with symbol and incorporated it into their gardens in many ways.

6. Include trees of various sorts, some to provide shade merely, and others to produce fruits;

flowers, colorful and sweet-smelling;

grass, usually growing wild under the trees;

birds to fill the garden with song; the whole cooled by a pleasant breeze.

7. The garden might include a raised hillock at the center, reminiscent of the mountain at the center of the universe in cosmological descriptions, and often surmounted by a pavilion or palace.

TOMB GARDEN

• Universally planned in the midst of a CHAR BAGH

• founded with architectural elements such as STONE PATHWAYS, CANALS, LILY POND, LOTUS-TANKS, STAIRS , CASCADES and WATERFALLS.

• Example : Humayun’s Tomb

PALACE GARDEN

• Gardens along with such water devices as tanks, canals, cascades and fountains.

• Illustrated by a large no. of paintings of this period

Example : Garden around a fort at Agra

PLAIN GARDEN

• Gardens were laid down independently on a plain surface on char bagh plan , enclosed on all sides by a PARKOTA ( RAMPATS )with a main gateway in the south and with some ornamental gateways on other sides.

• Divided in four equal parts by four CANALS running from central platform with stone or or brick paved causeways on both sides ,having tanks ,and cascades sometimes.

• Perfectly unified homogeneous composition.• Pleasure pavilion was originally built on the central later sometimes replaced by a

tomb of the owner of the garden.

PLAN – TAJ MAHAL

TERRACED GARDEN• laid out with all the basic elements of the plain garden in several terraces• had a central canal in the middle, descending from one terrace to the other,

through broad fish scaled cascades and relay-tanks • each terrace generally having its own independent CHAR BAGH plan.

SHALIMAR BAGH

• Includes all the features of a mughal garden

• Has 3 terraces

• The 2nd terrace garden along the axial canal  slightly broader, has two shallow terraces.

• The carved stone bases and a fine platform surrounded by fountains are still seen

• Shalimar Bagh is well known for chini khanas, or arched niches, behind garden waterfalls.

• The garden is considered to be very beautiful during the autumn and spring seasons due to the colour change in leaves of the famed Chinar trees.

Rashtrapati Bhawan has all the features of a Mughal Garden