water supply system, agra

SHAHI- HAMMAM & WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM (C. 1570.1658 A.D.)

The shahi hammam, also called ghusl-khanah, was originally built by akbar and was renovated by shah jehan. It is a closed complex of octagonal halls and rooms interconnected by corridors, with only a few jali openings on the river-side. The instrument room above the furnaces had two large deghs (pots) of brass and copper clay and copper pipes, sunk mysteriously in the masonry walls. Were conducted to other rooms some of which are miniature tanks hidden in corners at dadd-height the secret of this mechanism is not known in any construction is in brick masonry but pavements and dados were originally finished in white marble. Walls were painted. Every room is connected by stem. A ventilator is provided at the apex of each cupola shaped domed ceiling. Some backyard quarters served the purpose of imperial toilet. Its mechanism shows th4j some sort of air-conditioning was worked and this was mainly used as a summer palace for conducting business of confidential nature. As foreign travelers have observed. anoraks among the finest hammams of the Mughals.