1781.c.9(1)

Genre: Architectural Photography

View from the east, looking over a thickly wooded area towards the Taj Mahal, with the curve of the River Jumna (Yamuna) visible in the right background. The accompanying text reads: 'This view has been taken from a point overlooking the gardens of the Taj, in a south-east direction, and conveys a good impression of the luxuriance of the vegetation; the shade from the thick foliage of which contributes in no small degree to make this place what it has not been inappropriately called, 'a Paradise on earth.' The building seen over the trees is the pavilion called the Jumaat Khana, standing on the East end of the main platform, and was erected to correspond with the Mosque which occupies the extreme West end of the same platform, and to which it is a fac-simile in every respect. A tower forming a part of this group of buildings, similar to the one seen immediately to the right of the pavilion in the picture, and which overhangs the River at the South-east angle of the enclosure (see plates IX and X of the first series), has been fitted up for the accommodation of visitors, and forms a favourite retreat for the ascetic, the valetudinarian, of the contemplative student of the perishable things of this world. The River Jumna is seen in mid-distance with the ruins of buildings, many of them being garden palaces, which once extended on both sides, but chiefly on the right bank of the river, for a considerable distance eastward.'