%0 Book Section %B Vistāra - The Architecture of India, Catalogue of the Exhibition %D 1986 %T Islam – The Garden of Paradise %X

In the last section we have seen how with the coming of the Sultanates, there was a metamorphosis in architecture. For Islam brought with it new mythic values and images. Principal among these was the concept of the Paradise Garden (which we will discuss further on) based on the double-axis symmetry and the four quadrants of the char-bagh.

The Mughals, who came from Central Asia, brought with them an architecture (so stunningly evident in the great masterpieces at Samarkhand and Bokhara) based on this double-axis symmetry. Thus when they came to India, the symmetrical mandala diagrams they encountered not only reinforced their sense of architectural order, but furthermore presented to them the exciting possibility of perceiving builtform as an analogue of another reality. This led to an extraordinary – and perhaps unique – new vistara.

%B Vistāra - The Architecture of India, Catalogue of the Exhibition %I The Festival of India %8 10/1986 %! Vistāra