Do You Know These Indian Monuments Built by Women? | #195
+ A cricket World Cup in India without a sponsor?!
Friends,
We all know the story of how the Taj Mahal was built. The queen Mumtaz Mahal passed away, after giving birth to her 14th child, and Shah Jahan in despair commissioned a monument getting the finest raw materials from all corners of the globe. There are myths that Shah Jahan cut off the fingers of the workmen once the monument was built and spent his last days, under house arrest by his son, looking at the monument from a distance.
But there are plenty of monuments that have been commissioned by women in honour of their loved ones. This week, we take a look at these incredible women who showed true love by building incredible monuments.
Things we learnt this week 🤓
If you have closely observed the 100 rupee note, you would see the monument called Rani ki Vav depicted. Rani Ki Vav was commissioned by Queen Udayamati in tribute to her late husband Bhima I, a Chalukya King who ruled parts of present day Gujarat. A book called Merutunga by a Jain monk from the 14th century dates the construction of the monument to 1063. The monument is designed as an inverted temple to highlight the sanctity of water. A few hundred years later, this stepwell got buried under the Saraswati river. Excavation in the area started in the 1950s before the stepwell was discovered in the 1980s. It’s a magnificent piece of architecture that has now survived over 1000 years. So beautiful, so elegant, just looking like a Vav.
Here’s a Fun Fact - The first mausoleum that the Mughals built was actually commissioned by a woman - Begum Bega. It’s said she was so distraught at the death of her husband - Humayun, that she dedicated the rest of her life to one cause only - to construct the most magnificent mausoleum in the Empire as a memorial to him. The inspiration for the tomb is said to be the tomb of the Timur in Samarkand. The tomb served as an important monument in India’s struggle with the British as this is where the last Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar took refuge, before being captured and exiled to Rangoon. Begum Bega set the tomb for all future Mughal architectural marvels.
A building made entirely of marble, on the banks of the Yamuna river, in Agra… If you are thinking of The Taj Mahal, then you are wrong. We are talking about its predecessor ‘Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah’. It was built by Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, in the memory of her father Mirza Ghiyas Baig. The walls of the tomb are adorned with a recurring theme of a wine flash with snakes as handles, a hat tip to Jahangir’s excessive drinking habits. This was the first Mughal building to move away from the Akbarian red to a more pure, pristine, delicate design in white. So next time you're in Agra, make sure to visit this "marble-ous" gem as well.
White marble building on the Yamuna in Agra but not the Taj Mahal
From IWTK, with love 💌
A thread about one of India’s finest comedies. And it does not have any flying car in it.
With the WPL in full flow, let's visit a time when India hosted a World Cup and were looking for sponsors even after the event had started.
Only In India 🇮🇳
Memory Lost after preparing too much for the exam!
❤️ IWTK