Annotated Bibliography on Taj Mahal - History of Architecture

This annotated bibliography focuses on the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The paper presents summaries of various articles that discuss different aspects of the monument. These articles analyze the architectur...Read More

Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAJ MAHAL
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAJ MAHAL
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1ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAJ MAHAL
Taj Mahal is one among the Seven Wonders of the World and is a well known tourist
destination. The monument was built by the emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife,
Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal is situated in Agra on the bank of river Yamuna and its speciality
is the white ivory marbles that it is built up with. It was constructed as the tomb of Mumtaz
Mahal. The paper will be considering some articles on Taj Mahal and the summary of these
articles will be provided.
Ahuja, Dilip R., and M. B. Rajani. "On the symmetry of the central dome of the Taj
Mahal." Current Science 110, no. 6 (2016): 996-999.
The purpose of this work is to analyze the possible flaws that are there in the
symmetrical structure of the outer central dome. This paper discusses the possible reasons
behind the flaws. The article speaks about the beauty of Taj Mahal and some of the praises to
its accord by great personalities. It then introduces its readers to the flaws in the architecture
of the monument based on the verdict of the critics such as Hermann Keyserling, Sarat
Chandra, Wayne Begley and Aldous Huxley. The strength of this article is that it is topic
relevant and to support its topic many relevant facts have been provided. The weakness of the
article is that the language used is little difficult to understand and so many of the calculations
related to the dome make it complicated.
Estarabi Ashtiani, Hamideh. "Conceptual Ideas in Taj Mahal, India." European Online
Journal of Natural and Social Sciences: Proceedings 3, no. 4 (s) (2015): pp-609.
The article discusses on the architectural design of Taj Mahal. It provides certain
comparisons of the different parts of Taj Mahal to that of other monuments of Mughal period.
This paper relates the social customs, environment and art to the architectural design of Taj
Mahal. The positive aspect of this article is that it describes the parts of the monument along
with the possible reason of why it must have been made that way. Comparison of the
monument with that of Sanchi Stupa and Qutub Minar tower complex make it more specific.

2ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAJ MAHAL
Lal, Raj M., Ajay S. Nagpure, Lina Luo, Sachchida N. Tripathi, Anu Ramaswami,
Michael H. Bergin, and Armistead G. Russell. "Municipal solid waste and dung cake
burning: discoloring the Taj Mahal and human health impacts in Agra." Environmental
Research Letters 11, no. 10 (2016): 104009.
The article is on the discoloration of the Taj Mahal. It is an iconic monument and well
known in the world for its extraordinary architectural beauty and elegance. Pollution is
discolouring the white marbles of Taj Mahal thus certain steps have been taken to prevent
this. Taj Mahal has been focussed on in the whole article and it is topic relevant content.
Some portions are little tough to understand because of some of the scientific terms which the
reader might not be accustomed with.
Karanouh, Abdulmajid, and Ethan Kerber. "Innovations in dynamic
architecture." Journal of Facade Design and Engineering 3, no. 2 (2015): 185-221.
The article speaks about the architectural elements that are present beyond the
existing scope of the mainstream building standard and the traditional methods used. This
considers many monuments including Taj Mahal and provides its readers with many
challenges to the well established architectural industry with less alignment towards
innovation. The benefits of the integrated dynamic systems in case of monuments such as Taj
Mahal has been provided in the article but would have been better if more specific
informations had been included.
Walton, John K., and Jason Wood. "Reputation and regeneration: History and the
heritage of the recent past in the re-making of Blackpool." In Valuing historic
environments, pp. 129-152. Routledge, 2016.
The article is on the facts related to the renovation of the historical monuments and
includes the iconic monument of Taj Mahal as well. It speaks about the way the historic
environments should be valued. Taj Mahal and similar such iconic monuments are backed by

3ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAJ MAHAL
important historical facts and thus there is always a conflict in between the prevalent
reputation and process of regeneration. The paper discusses on the regeneration and heritage
of iconic monuments but nothing has been commented on individual monument.
Bergin, Mike H., Sachi Nand Tripathi, J. Jai Devi, Tarun Gupta, Michael McKenzie, K.
S. Rana, Martin M. Shafer, Ana M. Villalobos, and James J. Schauer. "The
discoloration of the Taj Mahal due to particulate carbon and dust
deposition." Environmental science & technology 49, no. 2 (2014): 808-812.
The white marble domes in the architecture of Taj Mahal depict the iconic images of
the country and these serve as attractions to numerous visitors around the year. The article is
on the gradual discoloration of the white marbles of the Taj Mahal which is the main
attractive feature of the monument. The article provides required facts and analyses the cause
of the discoloration of the same.
Rehman, Abdul, and Munazzah Akhtar. "Heart Pleasing and Praiseworthy Buildings:
Reviewing Mughal Architecture in the light of Primary Sources." Pakistan Journal of
Engineering and Applied Sciences (2016).
This article speaks about the expertise and the knowledge that the Mughal architects
depicted in their monuments. The designs and the sculpting are unique and attractive. The
Mughal art and architecture can be seen in many monuments, the greatest example being the
Taj Mahal. This paper focuses on the minute details of the architecture of the Mughal
monuments that includes the beauty of Taj Mahal as well.
Asif, Nayeem, Nangkula Utaberta, MA Othuman Mydin, and MY Mohd Yunos.
"Redefining Islamic garden: Comparative analysis of approaches, ideas and design
framework." Jurnal Teknologi 75, no. 9 (2015).
The Islamic gardens play a vital role in their architectures. In this article the garden
surrounding the Taj Mahal has been included as it is the next attractive thing in the

4ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAJ MAHAL
monument after the white marble body. The gardens are a part of the Islamic architecture and
they enhance the beauty of the monuments as in case of the Taj Mahal. The article provides a
description of these beautiful gardens.
Kumar, Ravindra. "Unit-6 Describing A Monument: The Taj Mahal." IGNOU, 2018.
This article deals with the minute details of the architecture of the Taj Mahal. It refers
to the historical significance of the making of the monument. The architecture of that of the
tomb but the mesmerizing beauty makes it feel as a resort. The calligraphy has been
mentioned as well. The article includes questionnaire which helps readers to get a better
understanding of the facts and they can also heck how much they could remember.
Uhlhorn, Seton. "Death, Poetry, And Dynastic Identity: Reimagining The Gardens At
The Taj Mahal." Plan II Honors Theses-Openly Available (2019).
The Mughal Emperors were patrons of architecture and the monuments constructed
during their reign are a clear proof of it. The Mahal is considered to be the zenith of the
cultural definitions of Mughal Empire. In this article, the Taj Mahal is said to be as the best
architectural achievement of the Mughal Empire. The landscape of Taj Mahal depicts well
the decline of the Mughal Empire and the establishment of British rule.

5ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAJ MAHAL
Bibliography
Ahuja, Dilip R., and M. B. Rajani. "On the symmetry of the central dome of the Taj
Mahal." Current Science 110, no. 6 (2016): 996-999.
Estarabi Ashtiani, Hamideh. "Conceptual Ideas in Taj Mahal, India." European Online Journal of
Natural and Social Sciences: Proceedings 3, no. 4 (s) (2015): pp-609.
Dilip R., and M. B. Rajani. "On the symmetry of the central dome of the Taj Mahal." Current
Science 110, no. 6 (2016): 996-999
Lal, Raj M., Ajay S. Nagpure, Lina Luo, Sachchida N. Tripathi, Anu Ramaswami, Michael H.
Bergin, and Armistead G. Russell. "Municipal solid waste and dung cake burning: discoloring
the Taj Mahal and human health impacts in Agra." Environmental Research Letters 11, no. 10
(2016): 104009.
Karanouh, Abdulmajid, and Ethan Kerber. "Innovations in dynamic architecture." Journal of
Facade Design and Engineering 3, no. 2 (2015): 185-221.
Walton, John K., and Jason Wood. "Reputation and regeneration: History and the heritage of the
recent past in the re-making of Blackpool." In Valuing historic environments, pp. 129-152.
Routledge, 2016.
Bergin, Mike H., Sachi Nand Tripathi, J. Jai Devi, Tarun Gupta, Michael McKenzie, K. S. Rana,
Martin M. Shafer, Ana M. Villalobos, and James J. Schauer. "The discoloration of the Taj Mahal
due to particulate carbon and dust deposition." Environmental science & technology 49, no. 2
(2014): 808-812.
Rehman, Abdul, and Munazzah Akhtar. "Heart Pleasing and Praiseworthy Buildings: Reviewing
Mughal Architecture in the light of Primary Sources." Pakistan Journal of Engineering and
Applied Sciences (2016).

6ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TAJ MAHAL
Asif, Nayeem, Nangkula Utaberta, MA Othuman Mydin, and MY Mohd Yunos. "Redefining
Islamic garden: Comparative analysis of approaches, ideas and design framework." Jurnal
Teknologi 75, no. 9 (2015).
Kumar, Ravindra. "Unit-6 Describing A Monument: The Taj Mahal." IGNOU, 2018.Uhlhorn,
Seton. "Death, Poetry, And Dynastic Identity: Reimagining The Gardens At The Taj
Mahal." Plan II Honors Theses-Openly Available (2019).