Latest news with #Persian-style


NDTV
21-05-2025
- NDTV
6 Surprising Facts About The Taj Mahal That Most People Miss
Love is one of those feelings that is tough to show through actions, but some people have gone to wild lengths for it, like building an actual monument. The Taj Mahal is a perfect example. Often called India's eternal symbol of love, this stunning structure was commissioned in 1631 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, after his wife Mumtaz Mahal passed away while giving birth to their 13th child. Every year, millions of travellers and history fans come to Agra just to see this white marble wonder, famous for its romantic backstory, perfect symmetry, and incredible design. But how much do you really know about it? Beneath all the love stories, there are layers of mind-blowing facts and clever design elements that most people miss. If you are someone who is obsessed with the Taj Mahal's history and architecture, these lesser-known details will change how you look at this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here Are 6 Facts About The Taj Mahal You Probably Did Not Know: 1. The Taj Mahal Looks Different Depending On The Time Of Day One of the most fascinating things about the Taj Mahal is how it shifts colours. At sunrise, it has a pinkish-orange tone. By noon, under direct sunlight, it appears bright white. During sunset, it reflects golden shades, and under a full moon, it takes on a soft bluish glow. This is not a trick of the eyes. It is because of the reflective quality of Makrana marble used in its construction. Photographers, historians, and even locals say this colour play makes the Taj feel alive. It is one of the reasons why it remains such a popular monument in India and a major part of Indian tourism. 2. The Minarets Were Built With Earthquakes In Mind If you look closely at the four minarets that stand around the main tomb, you will notice that they are slightly tilted outward. This was not a mistake. It was part of the original plan. In case of an earthquake, the minarets were built to fall away from the main structure so that the tomb stays safe. This level of planning shows how smart and intentional Mughal architecture really was. It is small details like these that make the Taj Mahal architecture so ahead of its time. 3. It Is More Than Just One Monument The Taj Mahal is not just the white marble building everyone knows. The whole area covers over 42 acres. Inside the complex, there is a mosque, a guest house known as the jawab, water channels, a large reflecting pool, Persian-style gardens called Charbagh, and even a small museum. Everything here was designed to match and balance each other. If you are a fan of Mughal design or the history of the Taj Mahal, walking through the entire complex gives you a better understanding of how much thought went into every part. Photo Credit: Pexels 4. A British Officer Almost Sold It For Marble In the 1830s, Lord William Bentinck, who was the Governor-General of India back then, seriously considered breaking down the Taj Mahal and selling the marble. His goal was to earn money for the British East India Company. Reports say the plan was dropped when it became clear that the cost of removing and moving the marble was too high. Plus, no one really wanted to buy it. It is wild to think that this global icon and one of the Seven Wonders of the World nearly became scrap material for buildings. 5. The Calligraphy Tricks Your Eyes The beautiful calligraphy on the Taj Mahal's walls is not just for decoration. It has been carefully designed to follow a visual trick. The script, made of Quranic verses, becomes larger as it goes up the arches. From below, it looks like all the letters are the same size. This smart use of size and proportion makes the writing easy to read and look balanced. It is a good example of the kind of optical illusions and clever design used in Islamic and Mughal architecture. 6. Over 20,000 Artisans Helped Build It Many people know that it took 22 years to build the Taj Mahal. But not everyone knows just how many hands were involved. Over 20,000 skilled workers came from different parts of India, Central Asia, and Iran. There were calligraphers, masons, designers, stone carvers, and inlay artists, all working on different parts of the monument. More than 1,000 elephants were used to carry marble, stones, and timber to the site. When people talk about the Taj Mahal being more than a symbol of love, they are right. It is a massive team effort and one of the most impressive pieces of architecture in the world. Built in the name of love in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, the Taj Mahal is more than just a pretty building. It pulls millions of people from around the globe every year, and for good reason. As one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a top UNESCO site in India, it keeps holding onto its place in history and in the hearts of those who visit.


CairoScene
11-03-2025
- General
- CairoScene
The Museum of Islamic Ceramics Tucked Inside an Ancient Zamalek Palace
The Museum of Islamic Ceramics Tucked Inside an Ancient Zamalek Palace You've likely walked past it, admired its façade, perhaps even captured it in a fleeting photograph – yet have you ever truly questioned its presence? Tucked away behind the century-old trees of Gezira Street in Zamalek, the 1921 Palace of Prince Amr Ibrahim remains an architectural enigma to many. Beyond its ornate walls and graceful arches lies the Museum of Islamic Ceramics, a glazed repository of artistry and heritage. As you stroll past, the palace's ribbed, pointed dome emerges like a pearlescent mirage amid the dense greenery. Its architecture unfolds in a carefully orchestrated sequence – first, a stepped portico welcomes you, leading to a trio of arches that form an elegant transitional space. Here, a grand wooden door adorned with intricate arabesque carvings stands slightly ajar, inviting you into a realm where history and craftsmanship intertwine. Stepping inside, you are met with the soaring expanse of a double-height atrium, its scale both imposing and inviting. At the far end, a grand piano stands in quiet poise before a glazed ceramic chimney, a striking focal point that anchors the space. Each hall unfolds like a world unto itself, yet a unifying rhythm binds them – a division etched into the very walls. The lower half is adorned with glazed tiles, their surfaces alive with floral motifs in deep blues and verdant greens, echoing the intricate patterns found on Islamic ceramic plates and urns. In contrast, the upper half of the wall is a continuous expanse of engraved plaster, its sandy beige surface a canvas of meticulous craftsmanship. Every carved detail murmurs of a bygone era, a time when architecture, art, and craftsmanship were inseparable threads in the fabric of creation. Above, the ceiling extends this narrative, its plasterwork delicately sculpted into cascading patterns, enveloping you in a soft floral sea of ornamentation. Venturing further, you now stand beneath the palace's dome, its surface alive with intricate carvings, stained-glass arched windows, and cascading muqarnas, each layer sculpting light into shadow. Suspended on the sides, on top of Carrara marble columns, a finely carved balcony juts out – a mystery in its own right. How does one reach it? The question lingers. Through a narrow, dimly lit and carpeted staircase – discreetly tucked behind one of the doors on your right – you ascend to the upper floor, where the enigmatic hanging balcony awaits. The space unfolds around you, lined with glass cases in which ceramic artefacts stand in silent display, each inviting contemplation. This is where Persian-style ceramics reveal their refined forms and intricate glazes, their craftsmanship suspended in time. Before descending, a warm glow from the far-right corner draws you in. It emanates from the Raqqa Ware room, dedicated to the Syrian ceramic tradition. Here, the space is imbued with a quiet opulence – furniture once belonging to Prince Amr Ibrahim rests in stately stillness, its golden embellishments, delicate wooden inlays and muted pale blues conjuring an air of regal elegance. Photography Credit: Rana Gabr


Express Tribune
02-03-2025
- General
- Express Tribune
Georgia's ethnic minority keep rug-weaving alive
Since Zemfira Kajarova arrived in the hill village of Kosalari in southern Georgia as a newlywed almost 50 years ago, she has devoted herself to weaving the village's distinctive Persian-style woollen carpets. The 65-year-old grandmother devotes hours each day to the painstaking work, sitting at the decades-old wooden loom in her living room, threading woollen yarn into thousands of individual knots. "When I was 16, I got married and moved here," she said, adding that no one in her home village, about 40 km (25 miles) away, knew how to weave carpets. After weaving, the carpets are carefully finished: shaved, beaten, and scorched with a gas burner, flaming off dust and loose ends. For over a decade, Zemfira has been working with reWoven, a social enterprise initially started by a U.S. missionary, to find buyers willing to pay international prices for local rugs. The group works with a network of weavers, all of them older women from Georgia's Muslim Azerbaijani ethnic minority. Though influenced by Persian rugs, the Borchalo carpets produced by Zemfira and other local weavers are made of woollen yarn, rather than silk, and rely on bold, striking designs on a limited colour palette, instead of the floral motifs favoured in Iranian weaving. "If we compare rugs to wine, then Iran is like France, and the Caucasus is like Italy," said William Dunbar, a volunteer co-director at reWoven. He said: "Everyone knows about Iranian rugs and that still to this day is the global centre of handwoven rug production. But the Caucasus is just as good, but a bit smaller and less famous." Under the Soviet Union, and under pressure from modern, mass-produced textiles, local rug-making had largely died out, with only a handful of older women in remote villages keeping the craft alive. Reuters


Reuters
28-02-2025
- General
- Reuters
Georgia's ethnic minority women keep ancient rugweaving art alive
KOSALARI, Georgia, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Since Zemfira Kajarova arrived in the hill village of Kosalari in southern Georgia as a newly wed almost 50 years ago, she has devoted herself to weaving the village's distinctive Persian-style woollen carpets. The 65-year-old grandmother devotes hours each day to the painstaking work, sitting at the decades-old wooden loom in her living room, threading woollen yarn into thousands of individual knots. 'When I was 16, I got married and moved here," she said, adding that no one in her home village, about 40 km (25 miles) away, knew how to weave carpets. After weaving, the carpets are carefully finished: shaved, beaten, and scorched with a gas burner, flaming off dust and loose ends. For over a decade, Zemfira has been working with reWoven, a social enterprise initially started by a U.S. missionary, to find buyers willing to pay international prices for local rugs. The group works with a network of weavers, all of them older women from Georgia's Muslim Azerbaijani ethnic minority. Though influenced by Persian rugs, the Borchalo carpets produced by Zemfira and other local weavers are made of woollen yarn, rather than silk, and rely on bold, striking designs on a limited colour palette, instead of the floral motifs favoured in Iranian weaving. 'If we compare rugs to wine, then Iran is like France, and the Caucasus is like Italy,' said William Dunbar, a volunteer co-director at reWoven. He said: 'Everyone knows about Iranian rugs and that still to this day is the global centre of handwoven rug production.' 'But the Caucasus is just as good, but a bit smaller and less famous.' KEEPING THE CRAFT ALIVE Under the Soviet Union, and under pressure from modern, mass-produced textiles, local rug making had largely died out, with only a handful of older women in remote villages keeping the craft alive. Nowadays, the carpet weaving women are not only sustaining a local handicraft, but also providing for their families. In Kosalari, only 60 km south of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, but where ethnic Azerbaijanis make up close to the entire population, Zemfira and her colleagues are an economic lifeline for an otherwise isolated and impoverished community. Though ethnic Azerbaijanis are Georgia's largest minority group, accounting for around 6.5% of the country's population, they are separated from Orthodox Christian Georgians by their Turkic language and mostly Shi'ite Islamic faith. Concentrated in a string of mostly rural, homogeneous enclaves along Georgia's southern border, many do not speak Georgian, severely limiting their economic prospects. In Kosalari, where the land is too dry to support large-scale agriculture and pastureland insufficient to keep animals, incomes are limited to the salaries of a handful of public sector workers and the remittances sent by locals working in countries like Russia, Ukraine and Greece. That makes the women's work, which sees them net hundreds of dollars per carpet, vital to their villages' economic survival. Among a younger generation that has received the Georgian-language education Zemfira never did, and which is more integrated into the country around them, carpet weaving holds only limited appeal as a profession. 'I really like weaving, and we need to keep this culture of carpet weaving going. Sadly, not many people want to weave,' said Zemfira. 'The young people don't want to, and there aren't many old people left.'