Garden of Taj Mahal

The lush green garden expands from the main gateway to the plinth, over
which stands the tomb. The garden in essense is based on symmetry and geometrical
measurements.
The Persian style garden has a close link with paradise, since Quran describes
paradise as a beautiful garden.
Through the centre of the garden runs the two marble canals with fountains
and lined with cypress trees (symbolising death).
This divides the garden into four equal squares(Islam considers four to
be a holy number), evoking the image of Islamic paradise that has rivers
of water, milk, wine and honey flow. The stone paved pathways further subdivides
each flower bed into 4, making total of 16 flower beds.
The mausoleum, unlike most mughal mausoleums, stands majestically at the
north end just above the river and not at the central location. At the centre
of the garden, in the mid of the tomb and the gateway, is a raised marble
lotus shaped tank with a cusped and trefoiled border.
The tank has been arranged to provide a clear view of Taj in its water from
any point in the garden. The view looks amazing with the reflection of Taj
amidst the green cyprus trees .
Water in the canals was drawn from the river using purs, a system of drawing
water manually from river using bucket and ropes. For irrigation the water
from the overflowing canals was used.
The north-south canals had its water inlet through fountains and east-west
canal had its water inlet through an interconnection with north-south canal.