Chapter 83 brilliant builder

The city is called New Delhi because there is an old Delhi to the north of it. New Delhi is too new to tell history, and old Delhi is too old to tell history.Now they are connected together, the old and the new confront each other and swirl and intersperse, making the years appear more mysterious and chaotic. In order not to get lost in the chaos, go to Old Delhi first. An Indian driver in the car has repeatedly warned: There are many, many pickpockets, be sure to pay attention to your pockets.Just after parking the car and before opening the door, two pairs of small hands were already beating on the glass outside. At first glance, two children aged six or seven were holding a baby in one hand.Probably his younger brother, the other with a crippled leg.The Indian driver immediately yelled at me: Don't give me any money, once you do, 50 people will surround me immediately!

I squeezed out quickly, and finally reached a slightly empty street, where a big black hand grabbed my sleeve.Turning around, I saw a man in bright and shabby clothes was putting down a basket on his shoulder, taking out a grass cage from inside, and was about to lift the lid to show me. I saw that he was holding a flute in his other hand. , immediately judged that he was going to do a cobra dance performance.I have long heard that this kind of performance is absolutely unwatchable, because I don't know how much money he will ask for, and how to make the cobra cooperate when he asks for money.I was most afraid of snakes in my life, so I ran away immediately.Escaping was difficult because of the dense rickshaws and crowds and the narrow streets.

Finally came to a spacious place, in front of which is the famous Red Fort.The Red Fort is a royal palace made of red sandstone. Its owner is Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor of the Mughal Dynasty in the seventeenth century. The palace is very large, nearly one kilometer in length and more than half a kilometer in width.The city wall is very high, and there is a moat outside, which is very magnificent.Entering from the majestic Lahore Gate, there is also a street market inside, but the atmosphere is completely different from the outside of the palace, and it is quite neat.I bought a brass statue of Shiva, the great Hindu god, in the cultural relics store in the market. I held it heavily in my hand, and then entered the second door, which was where the emperor was active.

There are many palaces in the large courtyard, and the one facing the palace is also made of red sandstone.The most striking thing about this palace is a large platform on which rows of large pillars face the square in front. In the center of the large pillars is a white stone throne against the back wall. There is an exquisite door on the wall through which the emperor came from Come out of this door and sit on the throne to meet officials and people under the platform.Because the postures are all there, the atmosphere of that year can be imagined. Going further back, you come across a palace of white marble, full of fine carvings, where the emperor received more important people, such as ministers and foreign envoys.

To the north of this marble palace, there is a mosque called the Pearl Mosque, which is pure white without any variegation.In the dark red tone of the entire palace, its dome and column tower appear crystal clear and pure. Facing these pure red and pure white Islamic-style buildings, and holding a heavy statue of a Hindu god in my hand, I captured some rough feelings about Indian history in my heart. Since I read the description of a series of actions when the Islamic forces invaded India twenty years ago (most of which were written by impartial Islamic historians), I have never been interested in the history of India after the eleventh century.It’s just that I have a different view of the Mughal Dynasty for more than 300 years, because it has several emperors that are unforgettable.

The first generation of emperor Babur is a descendant of Genghis Khan, which is already a bit interesting.He is brave and smart, and even thought of hiding in China to become a farmer when facing adversity, but finally established the most important foreign dynasty in India.It's just that he was in his forties when he died, too young to leave an incomplete impression. What's more interesting is that the third emperor Akbar, standing on this land as a foreign ruler, thought of the issue of religious equality very wisely, and even married Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism respectively. the imperial concubine.One of the things that caught my attention the most was that he called a synod of the synods, saying that the trouble in India was the religious antagonisms, and that a new religion was to be created that absorbed the best of all religions, and the temples of the synods were built.The Indians had a good impression of the emperor, but they did not want to change their beliefs easily, while most of the formerly dominant Islam disagreed.This situation led to the weakening of his power in the royal family, coupled with his son's eagerness to seek power, he came and went again and again, and died in desolation.His son wasn't much, and his grandson was kind of interesting.The grandson is none other than Shah Jahan, the builder of the palace I'm stepping on now.

No matter how many merits and demerits the emperor Shah Jahan has in politics, his most famous position in Indian history should be an outstanding architectural fanatic.In addition to the palace in front of him, he presided over countless buildings, the most famous of which is the Taj Mahal he built for Queen Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal has entered even the most brief history of world architecture, and he can really be immortalized. Queen Taj married him before he won the throne, shared joys and sorrows, gave birth to fourteen children for him, and finally died of dystocia. The will hopes to have a beautiful mausoleum.Not only did Shah Jahan do it, but he far exceeded his late wife's expectations.

This mausoleum was built by 20,000 migrant workers for 22 years, and it is still well preserved in Agra. If time permits, you should visit it.I have seen its photos countless times, extremely luxurious and extremely simple, entering the realm of poetry and dreams. Some people say that because Shah Jahan was too obsessed with a large number of luxurious buildings including the Taj Mahal, he exhausted the wealth accumulated from Akbar, resulting in the prosperity and decline of the Mughal Dynasty.This may be true, but from a distance in history, it is worthwhile to have such a beautiful building left.Sometimes a building is more important than a dynasty.

The simplicity of the Taj Mahal is like the simplicity of the Red Fort and the mosque to the north, reflecting the high level of appreciation of Emperor Shah Jahan.He is not a designer, but always a selector and approver, his interests determine the direction of the architect's behavior. He preserved the majestic and majestic side of Indian art, and absorbed the delicate and soft beauty of Islamic art.The main method of fusion is to wash away the colorful and trivial things that may be produced by fineness and softness, and unify them all in the same tone to achieve a seamless overall charm.

His grandfather did not realize the sweet dream of religious unity, but he did in the art of architecture. There are several historical scenes that moved me.For example, after the death of his wife, Shah Jahan spent two years discussing with the architects about the plan to build the tomb.For another example, after the Taj Mahal was built, he regularly put on white clothes to visit his wife's coffin, and wept every time. He suffered the same fate as his grandfather: his son usurped power.His third son, Aurunzeb, deposed him and imprisoned him in a tower, across the river from the Taj Mahal.

He was imprisoned for nine years, facing his wife's tomb every day.What would he say to his wife's ghost in the morning mist?I think the words he repeated in his heart are most appropriate in northern Chinese dialect: my wife, our third child has no heart! Fortunately, after his death, he was allowed to be buried in the Taj Mahal. After Aurunzeb came to power, he clearly announced the abolition of Hinduism and Christianity. December 15, 1999, New Delhi, overnight at Surya Hotel