The wonder that is ''Taj''. Review on Agra

Taj Mahal , the monument of love that represents India to the world, stands in a formally laid - out walled – garden entered through a pavilion on the main axis.

A picture, a film or a missive (including this one) falls short to convey the poetry and romance that shroud what Tagore calls “A tear drop on the cheek of time”.

The white marble tomb is set against an awesome backdrop of the river which works its magic of colors through their reflection and transforms the view of the Taj. Like a Jewel, the Taj sparkles in moonlight when the semiprecious stones inlaid into the white marble on the main tomb catch the glow of the moon. The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines.

As a tribute to a beautiful woman and as a monument for enduring love, the Taj reveals its subtleties when one visits it without being in a hurry. Being in Delhi and with a regular flow of visitors, I had an opportunity to visit Taj Mahal and see it closely, several times. One of the best views is to see from the Taj suites, in Mughal Sheraton. As a monument of Love, the Taj Mahal has a life of its own that leaps out of marble and as an architectural masterpiece, nothing can be added or subtracted.

But...........,

The traditional belief that the Taj Mahal was built by Shahjahan is misplaced. The term Taj Mahal comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Tejo Mahalaya’. It is a Hindu temple-palace, raised 500 years before Shahjahan. Badshahnama, (Shahjahan’s own court chronicle) itself mentions (on page 403 Vol I) that ‘Mumtaz was buried in a palatial, domed mansion of unique splendour obtained from Raja Jaisingh of Jaipur’.

India Book House, had published two paperback editions of the book titled “The Taj Mahal is a Hindu Palace” which were quickly sold out, and several more editions followed. The latest, published in the USA, is titled ‘Taj Mahal – The True Story’.

Similarly, the chaddar of millions of tiny Basra pearls which adorn the tombs of Shahjahan and his consort is also a sheer fantasy. Shahjahan was deposed in 1658 AD and died a prisoner in 1666. Who would spend millions of rupees to cover the grave of a detested prisoner with pearls? The entire Taj Mahal connection with the Moghuls is thus a web of dreamy, unverified bluffs. Shahjahan confiscated that temple palace precisely because it contained fabulous wealth. Anyway, lets get out of this stuff……..

Its perhaps best described by the English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold, as

“Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but a proud passion of an emperors love wrought in living stones”. It is a celebration of woman’s love, exquisitely portrayed in marble.

And that’s the way to appreciate it!

Wah!! Taj!!!.