Taj Mahal Sculpture - Agra
Generally, depending on the size of the model to made, a small reference clay idol is made. Expert artisan directly start working on the marble without using any reference. Looking at the proportion of the clay model, tracks are marked on the raw marble stone, using the long pointed chisel and hammer, large unwanted chunks are removed. Once the basic shape is formed, craftsmen uses tools like claw chisels, rasps, and rifflers to crave the fine details. Parts of the Taj Mahal are made differently. The four pillars are made with the help of turing process, rectangular marble pieces are placed on the turning machine, as the rectangle piece starts to rotate, it is sculpted using a chisel, once the basic shape is obtained, the surface is smoothen with the help of sand paper.
Bolt are fasten to the marble base, to which the pillar is fixed. Other parts of Taj are fixed with the help of locally made adhesive. The model is allowed to set for 2 to 8 hours (depending upon the size). Set model is marked using a permanent marker, using marker artisan draws the outline of the motifs on the white marble surface. Different verity of motifs are drawn are on the surface which are inspired by the Mughal era and also by the Taj Mahal itself. These motifs are colored using the oil based color. Bright colors are used to paint the grand motifs. In some of the idol, a mild coating of wax is applied, to fix the color permanently on the surface. The brass articles representing half-moon and other object are made by other community people. These articles are fixed on the top of pillars and on the main structure. Once the Taj Mahal is ready, it is affixed with electric bulb. The total idol is covered using a glass cover. Glass cover is used to keep the dust and moisture away from the idol.
