paradise

The Paradise Garden, that originated in Persia, was everything that one could wish for, after one was through with the sufferings and hardships of the life on earth. Safety, shade, sustenance, pleasure, eternal life ... paradise promised a wonderful afterlife to the faithful, who in turn recreated it on earth, for his enjoyment, here and now.

Based on the 'Char bagh' or the four gardens concept, the paradise garden offered an enclosed place, safe from the vagaries of nature and human beings. It had lush green trees that provided shade and fruit, and also water playing in reflective pools, channels and fountains. Originally meaning a walled - in enclosure ( 'pairi (around) and daeza or diz (wall, brick, or shape) , the Persian word pairidaeza came to be translated to the Greek 'Paradeisos' and later, the gardens came to be known as paradise garden.

The concept also finds resonance in the biblical 'Gardens of Eden" with its four rivers emanating from the central fount and flowing towards four directions.

The gardens of Persia and later the Mughal gardens based on the same concept show a geometrically composed four part layout with a pool at the centre, and four channels of water dividing the garden into four parts filled with greenery and shade. This layout repeated in a fractral pattern if the garden was larger, and split into terraces, if the garden happened to be sited on a slope. The same is reflected in the Persian Carpet design where all the elements are symbolically woven in to the pattern.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_garden

http://www.electrummagazine.com/2011/07/paradise-gardens-of-persia-eden-and-beyond-as-chahar-bagh/

http://www.walkthroughindia.com/walkthroughs/the-most-famous-mughal-gardens-of-india/