'Baby Taj' Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

One of the lesser-known monuments of Agra, the Tomb of Itimad ud Daulah is sometimes called the 'Baby Taj' because of its resemblance to Agra's most famous monument. However Itmad ud Daulah's Tomb was built before the Taj Mahal. A number of its stylistic features, such as a tomb in white marble surrounded by a formal garden and the use of inlaywork in marble to create floral or geometric designs, inspired similar features of the Taj Mahal.

The tomb is located about 1½ Kilometers from the Taj Mahal. The marble building contains the tombs of Mirza Ghiyas Beg & his wife Asmat Begum. They were the parents of Queen Nur Jahan, the wife of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (Jahangir was the father of Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal). Mirza Ghiyas Beg rose to the rank of Prime Minister of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Jahangir and was granted the title Itmad-ud-Daulah, which means 'Treasurer of the Empire'.

After Mirza Ghiyas Beg's death in 1622, the Empress Nur Jahan, completed this beautiful mausoleum to house his grave. The tomb had already been planned by her father before his death. Situated on the left bank of river Yamuna, the tomb is only overshadowed by Taj in beauty. This beautiful mausolem was the first one to be built on a riverbank, which was normally used only to build pleasure gardens till then. The marble mausoleum is designed like a silver jewel box with stunning and delicate inlay work. Facing river Yamuna, this quadrangular tomb stretches across 550 sq. feet with four gateways facing the four main directions. It follows the charbagh pattern and is a white marble structure surrounded by green lawns. The tomb is 21 meters high and there are 4 minarets that are 12 meters tall, at each of the 4 corners of the marble platform. A similar pattern is reproduced in the Taj Mahal on a much larger scale. The marble inlay work at the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, known as pietra dura, depicts a wine flask with snakes in place of handles on the inner walls of the tomb. Marble lattice screens let sunlight into the central chamber containing the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah.

Pretty much a postcard type of photo, one which I did not think of posting here. But I could not resist sharing this one with you, because of the golden hue the marble mausoleum had taken, as the first rays of the sun piercing the morning mist fell on the white marble.

Parasbhalla, Gerrit, pierrefonds, feather, PixelTerror, bostankorkulugu, ChrisJ, dip, josepmarin, Didi, plimrn, subhendu_bagchi, dareco, Bartleby, Budapestman, jafadabret has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Parasbhalla (248) 2009-08-06 2:37

Namastay Angshuman,

Another impressive capture from your picture library! Great details of the Tomb of Itimad ud Daulah are shown in your picture. The colors, the carvings and paintings on this historical building can be well judged from your shot. As you wrote in your note, the sunrays drastically enhance the beauty of this building as golden-red color is shining well against the light colored facade. Overall, a great work!

Thanks for posting.

regards,
Paras Bhalla

jasmis (50440) 2009-08-06 3:09

Superb piece of achitecture. Including a silhouette gives us the scale.
Regards.

Gerrit (35733) 2009-08-06 3:36

Hi Angshu,
beautiful little palace.
Excellent photo in good light with great detail;s.
Regards, Gerrit

aadilj (17950) 2009-08-06 4:09

I love this place Angshuman and love the way you have composed it and described it in your note.

pierrefonds (26309) 2009-08-06 4:43

Hi Angshuman,

The presence of the person has an effect of scale. The point of view is allowing us to admire the details and colors of the architecture of the Tomb of Itimad ud Daulah. It is clear and sharp. The light is well managed, it is enhancing the colors. Have a nice dya.

Pierre

pastadog (12821) 2009-08-06 5:21

This is a great presentation of this monument, Angshu, I esp. like the framing with trees on both sides, the right part as if it was an extension of the tree on the left... I believe this is the key to the shot, making this monument less heavy and adding life to the shot.. The light and the symmetry are excellent, of course. You are right, it's a postcard, nothing wrong with the approach, a perfect one, and I like the font you choose for the inscription. I can't remember visiting this monument when visiting Agra, I probably missed it. Regards, Daniel

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feather (49860) 2009-08-06 7:23

It may be a classic compo, but the golden light is beautiful, making the image well worth sharing. In any case I'm sure this is a subject that you would want in your gallery. Symmetry in traditional architecture is always satisfying to the eye.
Kath

PixelTerror (86138) 2009-08-06 11:28

Namaste Angshuman,
Love your title ;-)
Nice image of the baby, the parents can be proud ! The structures are well enhanced by the warm light
Have a nice day JY

bukitgolfb301 (4648) 2009-08-06 13:25

Hello my dear Prof.Angshuman

Complete framework, vivid color and sharp focusing as usual for you. I did not know this place, even though I visited at Taj Mahal, it is regrettable, next time I should be there--
Thanks for sharing and best regards,
Have a good day !

Takero

Morac (20447) 2009-08-06 14:28

Hi Angshu,
Superb piece of achitecture : excellent photo in good light with great detail.
Regards
Marc

bostankorkulugu (33598) 2009-08-06 21:50

this is the first time i see the baby taj... beautiful monument indeed angshuman... a lovely postcard this is my friend...

emka (21506) 2009-08-06 23:12

Hi Angshuman,

Fantastic capture of Indian art. The ornamentation of the walls is si rich. It is a pity the imaage is so small, it would be nice to see some details.

Regards

Malgorzata

Urs (2870) 2009-08-07 0:46

Dear Angshuman

Yes, I remember the Baby Taj, I like it, because there are normally much less tourists, even during the high season. I like your picture, perhaps I would had included the tree at the left, to get the monument more off center. That would be my individual choice. Your colors are vibrant, sharpness is splendid and DOF is fine due to the trees in BG. Well done

Best regards
Urs

ChrisJ (70271) 2009-08-07 1:07

Namaste Angshuman

An impressive shot of this splendid Indian architecture with good colour, framing & sharpness. The person at left adds scale & a welcome human element. Tfs!

dip (12584) 2009-08-07 1:13

Hi Angshu,
beautiful image of the impressive building,very good point of view and framing,
interesting architectural details!
well done,
Dimitris.

josepmarin (33785) 2009-08-07 8:44

Hi, my friend Angshuman,
A magnificent architecture well valued for this framing, where its elegant and beautiful decoration is outlined.
The wide angle creates a strong distortion to the building in this kind of capture, and the correction of vertical lines is difficult.
But it is a great photo, symmetrical, clear and with a good graphism.
Friendly regards,
Josep
PS: Thank you for your commentary about my humble photography prize.

Didi (36136) 2009-08-07 9:54

Hello Angshu
Very nice and rich architecture.
I don't have enough gold to buy similar one.
Very good gold lights on the details.
Best regards

plimrn (19664) 2009-08-07 10:06

Hi Angshu,
Daniel has pretty much written the perfect critique; there's nothing wrong with a very pretty, well-framed picture. He's right about the trees and I also like the addition of single man looking at the beautiful detail of the palace. You are also right that the light is wonderful. Of course you had to post it; how else would we know about this 'little-known' tomb?
HLJ, Pat

Waylim (10817) 2009-08-07 16:43

Hi Angshu,
for a lesser known monument, this is quite a magnificent place. Sometimes that's is what happen, when you got so many monument, the smaller one or less pretty one get ignore. Great shot, so much details and lovely colors, very natural and nice soft warm light.
thanks
Way

dareco (17104) 2009-08-07 21:55

You have brought out such wonderful colors and incredible detail. Amazing architecture!! TFS

Bartleby (4906) 2009-08-08 2:18

Hi Angshu,
well the quality of light is wonderful here and I understand why you wanted to share it with us. As postcard-like as it may be, the hues are really attractive. The presence of this man on the left gives a welcomed sense of scale too. There seem to be a slight tilt to the left though...or is it me?

Best,

Philippe

Graal (57995) 2009-08-08 2:36

Hi Angshuman,
very nice architecture, beautiful jewel of Agra. Good note and well presentation. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

Budapestman (41974) 2009-08-08 8:00

Dear Angshu,
Amazing shot of this beautiful building, the symmetrical composition is spectacular, the details are wonderful, Tfs! Have a nice weekend!
George

subhendu_bagchi (3113) 2009-08-08 8:27

Hello Angshu Da, great composing and detailling of this building. Exposer is nice. Angshu da ektu side theke diagonal view nile kemon hoto? Tate ekta 3D amej asto. Jai hok ei view tao durdanto lagchhe. I appreciate it. Bhalo theko.
Subhendu.

jafadabret (39669) 2009-08-08 10:42

Bonjour Angshu.
Ce pays a une architecture très riche avec les palais et les mausolées de toutes sortes. Ici tu as eu une bonne lumière pour mettre en valeur cette splendeur.
Salutations amicales !
Jacques

siolaw (25736) 2009-08-10 22:56

Hi Angshu,
Not so famous doesn't mean it is not beautiful! It must be hard to be in the shadow of such a landmark as the Taj Mahal! But it has the advantage of having no tourists in view when taking pictures! Nice light was there, it gave fine colors.
Greetings
Laurent

pablominto (40732) 2009-08-11 6:16

Hello Angshu,

Maybe smaller but by all means very impressive!
Beautiful ornaments on the walls, and the architecture is pleasing to by eye as the structure has perfect symmetry...
Sharp fine details and attractive colour repro!

Greetings,
Pablo -

Photo Information

Copyright: Angshuman Chatterjee (Angshu) (33665)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-12-25
Categories: Architecture, Artwork
Camera: Canon 400D (Digital Rebel XTi), Canon 18 - 55mm / f 3.5 - 5.6, RAW, Hoya 58mm PL-CIR
Exposure: f/13.0, 1/25 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: Agra & Fatehpur Sikri
Date Submitted: 2009-08-06 2:28