The History Behind Gardens

 

Islamic Gardens

Traditionally, an Islamic garden is a cool place of rest and reflection, and a reminder of paradise. The Qur'an has many references to gardens, and the garden is used as an earthly analogue for the life in paradise.clip_image002

There are surviving formal Islamic gardens in a wide zone extending from Spain and Morocco in the west to India in the east. Famous Islamic gardens include those of the Taj Mahal in India and the Generalife and Alhambra in Spain.

The general theme of a traditional Islamic garden is water and shade, not surprisingly since Islam came from and generally spread in a hot and arid climate. Unlike English gardens, which are often designed for walking, Islamic gardens are intended for rest and contemplation. For this reason, Islamic gardens usually include places for sitting.

Influences in formal Islamic garden designclip_image001[4]

After the Arab invasions of the 7th century CE, the traditional design of the Persian garden was used in the Islamic garden. Persian gardens after that time were traditionally enclosed by walls and were designed to represent paradise; the Persian word for enclosed space is 'pairi-daeza.' In the Charbagh, or paradise garden, four water canals typically carry water into a central pool or fountain, interpreted as the four rivers in paradise, filled with milk, honey, wine and water.

Charbagh garden at Jaigarh Fort

The Jaigarh Fort is situated on the promontory called the Hill of Eagles of the Aravalli range; it overlooks the Amber Fort and the Maota Lake, near Amber in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The fort was built by Jai Singh II in 1726 to protect the Amber Fort and its palace complex and was named after him.

The fort, rugged and similar in structural design to the Amber Fort, is also known as Victory Fort. The fort features a cannon named “Jaivana”, which was manufactured in the fort precincts and was then the world's largest cannon on wheels. The palace complex located within the fort has a well-tended garden where the royal family resided, an armoury and a museum. Jaigarh Fort and Amber Fort are connected by subterranean passagclip_image001es and considered as one complex.

The Aram Mandir and the garden within its courtyard, on the northern side of the fort complex, has a triple arched entrance The triple arch gateway with fortification walls above it is painted red and yellow. It is oriented in an east west direction and faces west. The architectural features are of Indo-Persian style with cyclopean walls built with dressed stone and plastered with lime mortar. There are two temples within the fort precincts, one is the Ram Harihar temple of the 10th century and the other one is the Kal Bhairav temple of 12th century vintage.

No comments:

Post a Comment