Parchin Kari: The Gemstone Heritage of the Mughals in Agra

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Agra, or Akbarabad, because it was as soon as known as, brings to thoughts the picture of the Taj Mahal within the thoughts of a discerning traveller. Whereas there’s way more to the town, the marble mausoleum is important for the concept of ​​India to face out. As soon as inside its ethereal complicated, guests search the right nook for photos or a spot to sit down within the shade of the arches because the summer season solar units.

The image of excellence in artwork, the Taj Mahal is a music of everlasting love. The Mughals, with their innumerable monuments, wrote love letters for structure and left Agra with recollections that proceed to linger within the crafts which have put the town on the world map. Certainly one of them is parchin kari or mosaic.

Parchinkari or Parchinkari in the walls of the Taj Mahal.  credit: deposit photos

Parchin curry is the artwork of inlaying coloured or semi-precious stones right into a stone base, usually in geometric or floral patterns. Within the partitions of the Taj Mahal, semi-precious stones shine towards the white marble floor, inspiring a technology of craftsmen who continued to apply the artwork within the suburbs of Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.

Believed to have originated in historical Rome, the craft quickly started to appear in church structure. The artwork of Pietra Dura, because it was known as in Italy, was dropped at India by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan within the seventeenth century, when he commissioned the Taj Mahal and introduced in specialists from Persia, utilizing inlay carving and semi-precious stones. Artwork was launched. Valuable stone in marble for the primary time. It’s believed that the Parachinkari craftsmen of Agra are the descendants of the identical craftsmen who constructed the Taj Mahal.

Artisans doing marble inlay work in Agra.  credit: deposit photos

To make marble inlay works, the stones are reduce and formed with a hand-operated machine, whereas the marble is carved with a diamond-tipped chisel. Semi-precious stones, akin to lapis lazuli, turquoise, malachite, onyx, mother-of-pearl, cornelian, jasper, and so on., inlaid on a marble floor, then set piece by piece into the carved marble, and are saved inside. An adhesive spot (the precise recipe for which is troublesome to hint. It is a commerce secret, the craftsmen declare). After the inlay is full, the marble is polished and polished. The signal of a wonderful piece of inlay is that it’s going to seem as if the valuable stone got here out of marble. Usually, even a single determine, akin to a flower or a leaf, is created by inserting completely different items of stones collectively.

Even right now, the outer partitions of the Taj Mahal’s primary mausoleum together with the arched grooves present beautiful inlay craftsmanship. On the marble drapes overlaying the monuments of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, the frilly inlay work with semi-precious stones pays homage to the simplistic opulence that marked the Mughal interval. This craft of inlay can be appreciated within the forts and mosques of Delhi and Agra, such because the Agra Fort and Itmad-ud-Daulah, the place Persian motifs may be traced within the white marble.

Many craftsmen work for several days on the same inlay piece.  credit: deposit photos

The artwork additionally discovered its approach to the Rajput kingdom, the place inlay work was complemented by the intricate mirror work that adorned the royal halls and palaces in Rajasthan. Within the space of ​​Shekhawati, many retailers replicated the grandeur of the courtroom of their havelis by commissioning artisans to make use of small mirror items organized in ornate designs on the outside and interiors of their houses.

Later, after the British conquest of Agra, vacationers made a approach to the town and expressed their need to amass memorabilia that reminded them of the town’s historical past. Inlay souvenirs discovered consumers, and a whole trade got here to life in Agra. From the frilly and complex pillars of Mughal structure, parachinkari has discovered its manner into our houses right now within the type of desk tops, coasters, chess boards and cabinetry.

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