The Taj Mahal: True Story?

[Guest guest]

The Taj Mahal was built by the mogul emperor ShahJahan in the memory of his

wife Mumtaz Mahal. It was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000

artisans brought to India from all over the world. Many people believe it

was designed by Ustad Isa of Iran. This is what your guide would have told

you if you ever visited the Taj Mahal in India. This is the story I read in

my history book as a student in India. No one has ever challenged it except

Professor P.N. Oak, who believes the whole world has been duped. In his book

Tajmahol: The True Story, Oak says the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaj Mahal's

tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo

Mahalaya). In the course of his research, Oak discovered the Shiva temple

palace was usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh.

Shah Jahan then remodelled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own

court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally

beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's

burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur still retains in his secret collection two

orders from Shah Jahan for surrendering the Taj building. Using captured

temples and mansions as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a

common practice among Muslim rulers.

For example. Hamayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in

such mansions. Oak's

inquiries begin with the name Taj Mahal. He says this term does not occur in

any Mogul court papers or

chronicles, even after Shah Jahan's time. The term "mahal" has never been

used for a building in any of the Muslim countries, from Afghanistan to

Algeria. "The unusual explanation of the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaj

Mahal is illogical in at least two respects. Firstly, her name was never

Mumtaj Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani," he writes. "Secondly, one cannot omit

the first three letters 'Mum' from a woman's name to derive the remainder as

the name for the building." Taj Mahal, he claims, is a corrupt version of

Tejo-mahalaya, or the Shiva's Palace.

 

Oak also says the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale

created court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archeologists.

Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's time corroborates the love

story. Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting the Taj Mahal

predates Shah Jahan's era, and was a temple palace dedicated to Shiva

worshipped by the Rajputs of Agra city. For example, Professor Marvin Miller

of New York took a few samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon

dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan.

European traveller Johan Albert Mandelslo, who visited Agra in 1638 (only

seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the city in his

memoirs. But he makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built. The

writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a year of

Mumtaz's death, also suggest the Taj was a noteworthy building long well

before Shah Jahan's time. Oak points out a number of design and

architectural inconsistencies that support the belief of the Taj Mahal being

a typical Hindu temple rather than a mausoleum.

Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time,

and are still inaccessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain a

headless statue of Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals

in Hindu temples. Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government

tried to have Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the

Indian publisher of the first edition with dire consequences.

There is only one way to discredit or validate Oak's research. The current

Indian government should open the sealed rooms of Taj Mahal under UN

supervision, and let international experts investigate.

 

 

Bye guys...

 

Sridhar