<span>Images of Paradise were widespread in both literature and art in the Mughal period, and each part of the Taj complex seems to correspond allegorically to a cosmological model of the gardens of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection: the mausoleum stands like the throne of judgment at the far end of the grounds (rather than the traditional placement in the center of a four-part garden); the forty-two acres of grounds are divided by four channels of water representing the four rivers of Paradise described in the Koran; and red sandstone walls topped with gazebos, galleries and towers mark the boundaries of Paradise. </span>
