Taj Mahal - The white wonder

S Balakrishnan *

The Taj Mahal, as the whole world knows, is a tomb built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal. Only an Emperor could afford to raise such a huge tomb for his beloved wife; no ordinary mortals like you and me could even dream of such an edifice for our wife.

It is another thing that whether we love our wife so much! Shah Jahan was the grandson ofAkbar the Great and Arjumand Bano Begum (Mumtaz Mahal) was the niece of Empress Nur Jahan, wife of emperor Jahangir (father of Shah Jahan).

Mumtaz Mahal (meaning 'Ornament ofthe Palace') died in 1631 during the birth ofher 14th child. She was just 38 years old when the end came. Her mortal remains were later brought to Agra for second burial in the crypt in Taj Mahal.

Shah Jahan was also later buried alongside. So, basically, Taj Mahal is a mausoleum. The mausoleum is situated on the right bank of River Yamuna in Agra. Nearby is the Agra Fort from where, it is said, the imprisoned Shah Jahan longingly looked at Taj Mahal from his cell for 7 IA years, until his last breath.

Incidentally, he was imprisoned by his own son Aurangzeb, in the fight for succession to the empire. I would not trade places with Shah Jahan! The tomb was completed in 1648 after 17 laborious years.

Two other queens of Shah Jahan also rest within the complex. Both white marble and red sandstone have been used for the external wall construction of the complex, with brick & lime mortar having been used for the inner construction.

Hats off to Ustad-Ahmed Lahori, the main architect of the monument. While the real graves lie at the bottom chamber, the top ones are illusory, was the practice with the Mughal tombs.

Taj Mahal was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO along with Agra Fort, the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. Much has been said about the beauty of Taj Mahal that is situated in a vast garden of 17 hectares, so let me be short.

It is a wonderful specimen of Indo-Islamic architecture with calligraphy, floral & geomemtrical motifs, inlay works and marble screens. Originally, the land where the Taj Mahal presently stands belonged to the Kacbhwahas of Ajmer (Rajasthan).

The land was acquired from them in lieu of four havelis as is testified by a court historian, Abdul Hamid Lahauri, in his work titled the Badshah-Namah, and the firmans (royal decrees).

I hope this fact does not add up to the controversy that Taj was originally a Hindu temple! If the Taj Mahal is acclaimed as the White Beauty, the Sun Temple in Konark, Odisha, is hailed as the Black Beauty.

Only if I could make it once more to Taj Mahal then it would be a hat trick visit. I hope it materializes during the monsoon period when the world's beauty would look marvelous drenched in the rains!