The Taj Mahal

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends @ onelist,

Thought some of you at onelist might find this interesting and if need be

discuss this with reference to Hinduism which continues to be seen as a

religion that can be suppressed.

Purush

>

>

> The Taj Mahal was built by the mogul emperor Shah Jahan 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 prob-ably 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 Qeen

> 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 tem-ple palace

> was usurped by Shah Jahan from then Mahara-ja 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 trom 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 syco-phants, 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 toAgra 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.

>

>