The Secret Unveiled. Review on Taj Mahal: The True Story - P.N. Oak

No one has ever challenged it except Prof. P. N. Oak, who believes the

whole world has been duped. In his book Taj Mahal: The True Story, Oak says

the

Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz's tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of

Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya) . In the course of his research O

ak discovered that the Shiva temple palace was usurped by Shah Jahan from

then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. 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, Humayun,Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried

in such mansions. Oak's inquiries began with the name of Taj Mahal. He says

the term "Mahal" has never been used for a building in any Muslim countries

from Afghanisthan to Algeria. "The unusual explanation that the term Taj

Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal was illogical in atleast two respects.

Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz 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 Lord Shiva's Palace . Oak

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

by

court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists . 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 dedicated to Shiva, worshipped by

Rajputs of Agra city. For example, Prof. 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 traveler Johan

Albert Mandelslo,who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz's

death), describes the life of the cit y 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 well before Shah Jahan's time.

Prof. 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 Lord Shiva and other objects

commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples . Fearing political

backlash, Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Prof. Oak's book

withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the

first edition dire consequences . There is only one way to discredit or

validate Oak's research.

The current government should open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal under

U.N. supervision, and let international experts investigate.