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Jahangir 's Tomb Lahore Emperor Jahangir was buried according to his last wish: in Lahore, in Noor Jahan's old pleasure garden known as Dilkusha Garden. The mausoleum is located at Shahdara on the banks of the Ravi, three miles northwest of the city. The east gateway in the Akbar/Jahangir serai quadrangle, with its tall Timurid wan, leads into an enormous garden 1540'x1540', in the centre of which stands the magnificent sepulcher of Jahangir, considered by some to be the "finest ornament of Lahore," and the "most magnificent edifice in the subcontinent after the Taj and the Qutub." Although contemporary court accounts credit Shah Jahan with the building of his father's tomb, it is more likely to have been the result of Noor Jahan's vision. The empress was a great patron of architecture, having built several buildings and gardens. She designed her husband's tomb in 1627, taking as model her parents' burial place, the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula in Agra. She also became a permanent resident of Lahore after her husband's death, and was thus in a position to influence the design and construction of the monument. Dilkusha Garden, which according to his own wish became the resting place of Jahangir, was owned by none other than the empress herself. In all fairness to Shah Jahan, though, no expense was spared. The monument, which was ten years in building, cost Rupees 10 lakhs.
The setting of the chahar bagh rauza (paradise
garden mausoleum) is skillfully accomplished. Its
four parterres are subdivided into sixteen divisions
by means of a brick geometric pavement flanking
narrow water channels and every intersection is
marked by an alternate octagonal and square talab
(tank).
The combination of red Sikri stone and white marble,
an arrangement echoing Humayun's tomb in Delhi, and
a rare treat for Lahore not least for its intricate
inlay, is impressive in its finesse and
sophistication. Where the external expression is
restrained in its dignified simplicity, internally
decorative surfaces present you the best of tile
mosaic and fresco that made Lahore famous in the
whole of the Mughal Empire.
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