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Articles: My Thoughts | Symbol of eternal love?
- Ms. kiran A
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A seemingly endless number of stories describe, often in horrific detail, deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan inflicted on various craftsmen associated with the tomb. Perhaps the most common story prevailing is that Shah Jahan had the finest architects and sculptors at his disposal. After the completion of the work, Shah Jahan had their hands cut off so that they would never build a monument in greater splendour, and their eyes pulled out so that they would never witness anything more beautiful. No respected authorities find these legendary horrors credible.
Stolen items
Legends abound concerning items originally attached to the Taj Mahal which were stolen. Some original items have been removed over time, but many are mere legends only. These legends include:
Gold leaf, supposed to have covered all or part of the dome.
A golden railing supposed to have circled the cenotaphs (suggested perhaps by a temporary enamel railing that was replaced after completion of the marble jali)
Diamonds supposedly inlaid in the cenotaphs
A blanket woven of pearls supposedly covering Mumtaz's cenotaph
Numerous items from the Taj Mahal have gone missing however; these include the following
An entrance door of carved jasper
Gold leaf that adorned the cast iron joints of the jali screen around the cenotaphs
Numerous rich carpets that covered the interior of the tomb
Enamelled lamps from the interior of the tomb
British plan to demolish the Taj Mahal
There is an often-repeated story that Lord William Bentinck, governor of India in the 1830s, planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. In some versions of the tale, the demolition crew were ready to begin their work but were stopped only because Bentinck was unable to make the scheme financially viable. There is no contemporary evidence for this story, which may have emerged in the late nineteenth century when Bentinck was being criticised for his penny-pinching Utilitarianism, and when Lord Curzon was emphasising earlier neglect of the monument, and presenting himself as a saviour of Indian antiquities. Nevertheless, the story may have been based on a real proposal
Was the Taj Mahal originally a temple or a palace?....The Tajmahal is Tejomahalay A Hindu Temple
P.N. Oak, President of The Institute for Rewriting Indian History, has repeatedly asserted that the Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple of the god Shiva, usurped and remodeled by Shah Jahan. The temple's name, he says, was originally 'Tejo Mahalaya'; this was corrupted over time to 'Taj Mahal'.
He further says that if Taj Mahal was not a Shiva temple, that it might then have been the palace of a Rajput king. In any case (he says), the Taj Mahal was Hindu in origin, stolen by Shah Jahan and adapted as a tomb — although Oak also claims that Mumtaz is not buried there.
Oak further states that the numerous eyewitness accounts of Taj Mahal construction, and Shah Jahan's construction orders and voluminous financial records, are elaborate frauds meant to hide its Hindu origin.
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