Agra Fort: Moti Masjid

We can characterize the Imperial Mogul styles in architecture as generally eclectic from the reign of Akbar to the reign of Shah Jehan. We have seen the admixture of Persian and Hindu elements with those of Islamic styles in the previously discussed monuments: in the present example, built by the Shah Jehan at Agra Bengali, new elements enter into the scheme of things. The Moti Masjid was a royal mosque built to accompany the palace at Agra for Shah Jehan between 1646-1658. The mosque is known as the Pearl Mosque and was one of the Shah Jehan's major constructions. It represents the height of Mogul art and was excellently planned. From the entrance, seen before us in the slide, one passes through into an interior gleaming with white marble, the most popular and most elegant building substance of the day. In keeping with Bengali ideas, the mosque is one-storied both in actuality and appearance. Aspects of Hindu traditional temple styles still live on in the Islamic mosque adaptations in the following transcriptions of function: Hindu temple spires became minaretsshrine doors with their elaborate sculptural programs became Mihrabs, and the Hindu series of mandapas (cult halls) became the mosque's nave