MYSTERY BEHIND THE ORIGINS OF TAJ MAHAL

Taj Mahal, considered to be a symbol of love, holds some unsolved mystery put forth by the well known historian Mr. P.N. Oak (2 March 1917 - 4 December 2007).

In his book 'Taj Mahal: The True Story', Oak claims that the Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple and a Rajput palace named 'Tejo Mahalaya', seized by Shah Jahan and adopted as a tomb. He says that 'Mahal' is a word to describe a royal palace and not a tomb and after seizure by Shah Jahan, the name was changed to Taj Mahal.

Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. Shah Jahan then remodeled 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 is said to retain in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for the surrender of the Taj building.                            

     
              

Shah Jahan

       

Jai Singh

                            

Oak's theory has been backed by the following facts:-

• Professor Marvin Miller of New York took samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan.
• The writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a year of Mumtaz's death, also suggested that the Taj was a noteworthy building long well before Shah Jahan's time.
• European traveller Johan Albert Mandelso, who visited Agra in 1638 (only 7 years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the city in his memoirs, but makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built.
• Well-known western authorities on architecture including Ernest Binfield Havell, Mrs. Kenoyer and Willian Wilson Hunter have written that the Taj Mahal is built in the Hindu temple style. Havell also states that the plan of the Taj Mahal is identical with that of the ancient Hindu temple of Java, the Prambanan. 
• Oak argues out that the octagonal shape of the Taj Mahal has a special Hindu significance because Hindus alone have special names for the eight directions and the celestial guards assigned to them. 
• He also argues that the finial of the Taj Mahal is a Trishul with a Kalash, holding two bent mango leaves and a coconut, which is a sacred Hindu motif.

                                       

• 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 or a lingam and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples, and that Mumtaz Mahal was not buried at her cenotaph.

                                         

In 2000, India's Supreme Court dismissed Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king had built the Taj Mahal and reprimanded him for bringing the action, saying he had a  "bee in his bonnet" about the Taj.

Well, I am not saying that we should follow this "Hindu Temple" angle for the origin of the Taj Mahal. Although, the theory is intriguing and the supporting facts are firm. But we should not forget that Taj Mahal is a beauty and India's pride, so the matters of the past should remain there and we should focus on the present and the upcoming future.