Agra, or Akbarabad because it was as soon as known as, brings to the thoughts of a discerning traveller the picture of the Taj Mahal. Whereas there’s a lot extra to the town, the marble mausoleum is all that’s wanted to face for the thought of India. As soon as inside its ethereal compound, guests jostle to seek out the right nook for photos or house to take a seat within the shade of the arches because the summer time solar bears down.    

The Taj Mahal, the image of elevated artwork, is a track of everlasting love. Mughals, with their innumerable monuments, wrote love letters to structure and left Agra with reminiscences that proceed to trickle in crafts which have put the town on the world map. One in all them is Parchin Kari or Pachhikari.

Parchin Kari is the artwork of inlaying colored or semi-precious stones right into a stone base, usually in geometric or flower patterns. Within the partitions of the Taj Mahal, the semi-precious stones glisten in opposition to the white floor of the marble, inspiring a technology of craftsmen that proceed to follow the artwork within the bylanes 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 within the seventeenth century by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan when he commissioned the Taj Mahal and introduced specialists from Persia, introducing the artwork of inlay carving and use of semi-precious stone in marble for the primary time. The Parchinkari craftsmen of Agra are believed to be descendants of the identical craftsmen who constructed the Taj Mahal. 

To make a marble inlay artefact, the stones are lower and formed with a hand-operated machine whereas the marble is chiselled with a diamond-tipped chisel. Semi-precious stones, reminiscent of lapis lazuli, turquoise, malachite, onyx, mother-of-pearl, cornelian, jasper, and so on., are inlaid on a marble floor, then set piece by piece into the carved out marble, and held in place utilizing an adhesive (the precise recipe for which is tough to determine. It’s a commerce secret, the artisans declare). After the inlay is full, the marble is buffed out and polished. The mark of a fantastic piece of inlay work is that it’ll make it appear to be the valuable stone grew out of marble. Usually, even a single motif, reminiscent of a flower or a leaf, is made of various items of stones put collectively. 

Even at the moment, the arched recesses of the Taj Mahal’s essential mausoleum, in addition to the outer partitions, present wonderful inlay craftsmanship. On the marble display screen that covers the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, detailed inlay work with semi-precious stones pays homage to the simplistic opulence that marked the Mughal period. This craft of inlay work can be admired within the forts and mosques of Delhi and Agra, reminiscent of Agra Fort and Itmad Ud Daulah, the place Persian motifs may be traced within the white marble. 

The artwork additionally discovered its approach to the Rajput empire, the place inlay work was supplemented by intricate mirrorwork that bedecked the royal halls and palaces in Rajasthan. Within the area of Shekhawati, many retailers replicated the opulence of the courts of their havelis by commissioning artisans to make use of small mirror items organized in ornate designs on the exteriors and interiors of their properties. 

It was later, after the British conquest of Agra, that travellers made a beeline to the town and expressed a need to amass memorabilia that reminded them of the historical past of the town. Inlay souvenirs discovered keen patrons, and a complete trade got here to life in Agra. From the flowery and complicated pillars of Mughal structure, Parchinkari at the moment has discovered its method into our properties within the type of desk tops, coasters, chess boards and cupboards.