Question

What are the features of river front garden?

Answer 1

1) During Shah Jahan’s reign his capital was at Agra, a city where the nobility had constructed their homes on the banks of river Yamuna.

2) These were set in the midst of formal gardens constructed in chahar bagh format. This garden type had a small variation

3) This variation of garden is described as ‘river front garden’. In this, the dwelling was not located in the middle of the garden but at its edge, close to the bank of the river

4) Shah Jahan adapted the river front garden in the layout of Taj Mahal, the grandest architectural accomplishment of his reign. Here, the white marble monument was placed by the edge of the river and the garden was to its south.

5) Shah Jahan developed this architectural pattern as a means to control the access that nobles had to the river.

6) In the new city of Shahjahanabad that he constructed in Delhi, the imperial palace commanded the river front. Only specially favoured nobles, like the eldest son of Shah Jahan, were given access to the river.

7) All others had to construct their homes in the city away from the river Yamuna