Lord Curzon’s chandelier reinstalled inside Taj Mahal

Lord Curzon’s chandelier reinstalled inside Taj Mahal

A huge copper and bronze chandelier gifted by Lord Curzon in 1909 and hanging at the royal gate of the Taj Mahal fell on the ground on 19th August 2015. The chandelier was damaged and after its repair, it will be installed back to its original place inside the royal gate of Taj Mahal. This time it will be fastened by steel chains.

Curzon had gifted two chandeliers to Taj Mahal. One was installed in the central octagonal chamber enshrining the cenotaphs exactly over them in the main mausoleum. The second one was installed at the Central hall of the Southern gate. This bronze lamp was designed and built by Mayo School of Art in Lahore. It was installed in 18th February 1906.

Curzon, a stickler for details himself, had commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, which still hangs there, modeled after one in a Cairo mosque. The then viceroy visited Egypt and examined hundreds of designs before he approved the design of the lamp which had hung in the mosque of Sultan Beybars II. But after the lamp itself suddenly disappeared and anxious inquiries in several countries could not help in locating the lamp, Curzon requested the director of the Arab Museum at Cairo, to make a replica of the original lamp. After two years of labor, the bronze lamp artistically inlaid with silver and gold was made, with an inscription in Persian: “Presented to the tomb of Mumtaz Mahalby Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, 1909.

The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World which is considered as the most photogenic destinations of India. It is one of the most exquisite structures ever built by any emperor. It was constructed by the fifth Mughal emperor in the fond memory of his favorite wife Mumtaj Mahal. The Taj Mahal in terms of architecture, is one of the most symmetrical structures in the world, constructed using pure white marble and adorned with precious and semi precious stones. The construction started in 1631 and got completed in 1653 AD; 20,000 workers worked day and night together for 22 years.

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