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Viceroy Curzon's bronze lamp in the Taj. taj-mahal.net
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Curzon's bronze lamp above tombs, The Taj Mahal.taj-mahal.net
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Any
visitor to the Taj Mahal in Agra, UP near Delhi would have definitely
noticed a beautiful bronze lamp hanging over the false mausoleums of
great Mogul ruler Shah Jahan and his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal to whom
Shah jahan dedicated this most beautiful edifice in the world. If you
know the donor of this lamp to the Taj, you will be in for a surprise.
It is none other than Lord George Curzon ( 11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925),
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| Viceroy George Curson, British India. en. wikipedia. org. |
Above image: The Lord Curzon of Kedleston as Viceroy of India; reign: 6 January 1899 – 18 November 1905. Monarch: Victoria and Edward VII.Political party: Conservative. Played a great role during the Imperial Delhi Durbar (1903)..............
Viceroy of repute during the
Raj. It was one of Curzon’s gifts to the Taj Mahal. Lord Curson, one of
the energetic senior British India officials had a fascination for beautiful artistic works and
monuments and took deep interest in them. In the case of the Taj,
because of its unparallelled grandeur and lavishing beauty, he held the
Mogul building closer to his heart and, if occasion demanded, he had spent a
good deal of his money as well as that of the government's to keep the
monument in good shape.
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Lord Curzon's brass lamp, The taj Mahal. imgpic.org
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Whenever
Curzon had taken time off, it was his keen desire to visit the monuments close by. One day upon his visit to the Taj, he was literally in a state
of shock and appalled to see dim and poorly lit lamps being used to show
him around the mausoleum. He felt such dim lamps were unsuitable for a
majestic building like the Taj Mahal. Lord Curzon made up his mind to
have a nice-looking lamp on the model of a replica of the one that once hung from the mosque of Sultan Baibars I in Egypt. Having found that particular lamp to use it a model he was looking for was missing, Curzon was a bit disappointed. However,
he did not give up his mission to have a new bronze lamp installed
over the mausoleum in the Taj. When he came to know that the local
artisans knew how the lamp he had in mind looked like and they had the
skill and expertise to produce a replica, Curzon
commissioned the creation of a lamp for the Taj Mahal. In this regard,
he had consultations with two Egyptian scholars as to the details of the
proposed lamp. One good trait about lord Curzon is he never compromised
on quality and strongly believed in perfection. An experienced artisan by the name of Todros
Badir was chosen by him to execute the job. As much importance was
given to the details of the lamp and artistic work, it took not less
than two years to complete the work on the bronze lamp that majestically is
now hanging over the mausoleum of the two great souls.
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| Bronze lamp gifted by lord Curzon, The Taj, Agra. scroll.in |
An interesting feature of
this Lord Curzon's bronze lamp
is the careful inscription in Persian to
match the script used by calligraphers in the Taj. The inscription says “Presented to the Tomb of Mumtaz Mahal by Lord Curzon, Viceroy 1906.” Some critics call it an eccentric gesture to express his appreciation of the
architecture.
If
I had never done anything else in India, I have written my name here
and the letters are a living joy" These are the words Lord Curzon used
whilst making a speech from the terrace of the Taj Mahal. The lamp that has hung from the dome has been shining upon the two tombs since the early nineteen hundreds.
During the recent cleaning operation of The Taj
Mahal’s century-old chandelier was damaged a bit. Though accidental, it was a glaring act of negligence, It was one of the two gifted by then Viceroy, Lord.Curzon in the early 20th century. The chandelier made of copper that adorned
one of the royal gates, was installed in 1909. Weighing around 60kg, it was
crafted at the Mayo School of Art in Lahore. The visitors can not miss this beautifully made chandelier.
http://www.india.com/travel/articles/5-facts-about-the-taj-mahal-you-probably-didnt-know-of/
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