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Attractions
Mausoleum
of Jahangir:
It is located just across the
River Ravi. Jahangir's tomb
was built by his son, Shah Jahan..
These are three mausoleums, those of Jahangir, his wife Nur
Jahan and her brother Asif Khan, who was the father of Mumtaz,
the lady of the Taj Mahal at Agra.
Jahangir's wife Nur Jahan was a
power in the court and much loved. It is said that when Jahangir
was a young man, he handed the lady two of the royal pigeons to
hold. Pigeon flying is a sport enjoyed by the gentle folk of the
subcontinent. When Jahangir returned for his birds, one had
flown.He was surprised. "But how did it fly?" he
asked. "Like this!" She laughed and let go the second
bird. They say that from then on he was enchanted.
The entrance of this is through
two massive gateway of stones and masonary opposite each other
to the north and south which lead to a square enclosure. This
enclosure leads to another giving a full view of the garden in
front, about six hundred yard squares which is traversed by
four-bricked canals proceeding from the centre, and in which
innumerable fountains were introduced which are now in ruins.
The corridor is adorned with a profusion of marble ornaments
arranged in a most elegant mosaic, representing flowers and
Qurani verses. In the interior of the mausoleum is an elevated
sarcophagus of white marble, enshrining the remains of the
Emperor, the Sides of which are wrought with flowers of mosaic
in the same style of elegance as the tombs in the Taj at Agra,
on two sides are most beautifully carved the ninety-nine
attributes of God.
The 99 names of God are inlaid
in black on the marble and there are beautiful jalis which admit
patterns of light.
Nur Jahan's Tomb was stripped
down to the bricks by the Sikhs, but it has been restored this
century. In buildings of this sort, the grave is underneath the
mausoleum, in the cellar.
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