Sound was also used to express ideas of paradise. Plant metaphors also find a commonality with Hindu traditions where such symbols as the 'vase of plenty' (purna-ghata) can be found and were borrowed by the Mughal architects. Its symbolism is multifaceted, on the one hand evoking a more perfect, stylised and permanent garden of paradise than could be found growing in the earthly garden on the other, an instrument of propaganda for Jahan's chroniclers who portrayed him as an 'erect cypress of the garden of the caliphate' and frequently used plant metaphors to praise his good governance, person, family and court. Red sandstone also had significance in the Persian origins of the Mughal Empire, where red was the exclusive colour of imperial tents. By building structures that employed such colour coding, the Mughals identified themselves with the two leading classes of Indian social structure and thus defined themselves as rulers in Indian terms.
The Mughals were elaborating on a concept which traced its roots to earlier Hindu practices, set out in the Vishnudharmottara Purana, which recommended white stone for buildings for the Brahmins (priestly caste) and red stone for members of the Kshatriyas (warrior caste). In the Taj Mahal, the hierarchical use of red sandstone and white marble contributes manifold symbollic significance.
This interplay extends from what can be seen with the senses, into religious, intellectual, mathematical and poetic ideas. A deliberate interplay was established between the building's elements, its surface decoration, materials, geometric planning and its acoustics. A number of secondary principles were also used, of which hiearachy is the mostdominant. This theme permeates the entire complex and informs the design and appearance of all its elements. Inspired by a verse by Bibadal Khan, the imperial goldsmith and poet, and in common with most Mughal funerial architecture, the Taj Mahal complex was conceived as a replica on earth of the house of Mumtaz in paradise. Under the reign of Shah Jahan the symbolic content of Mughal architecture reached its peak. Kanbo refers to “ the illurruned tomb (rauza-i-munauwara) on who’s every stone slab from early morning until late evening the whiteness of the true dawn is reflected, causing the viewer to forget his desire to move towards the highest heaven”. It is a heaven of the colour of dawn's bright face, because from top to bottom and inside out it is of marble - Nay, not marble because of its translucent colour (av-u-rang) The eye can mistake it for a cloud. Alluding to the stone's luminosity, the Mughal poets compared it to early dawn or to a cloud. The mausoleum is entirely clad in white marble. Symmetry along two sides of a central axis, new columnar styles, curvilinear forms, and symbolic decorations based on naturalistic plant motifs are all characteristics of the Shahjahan style that can be found in the Taj Mahal Complex. The new architectural style includes aspects that were to impinge much of subsequent Indian architecture. Taj Mahal is an ambassador of Shah Jahan's strong interest in building and artistic innovations.
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