Based on mere hearsay, it had been believed that the Taj Mahal was a
mughal tomb built by the emperor Shah Jahan as a monument
to his love.
But there are many anamolies and inconsistencies in the Taj Mahal story. The author has set out to expose them in this book. The emperor Shah Jahan’s court chronicler (Abdul Hamid) writing in the Badshahnama admits that the mausoleum was Raja Mansingh’s ancestral
palace that was usurped for the purpose of the burial of Shah Jahan''s wife.
Built by Hindu craftsmen, with Hindu tools and to Hindu design. Its marblework is similar to the Amer palace at Jaipur built some six hundred years earlier.
In spite of strenuous efforts to discover the identity of the architects, their identity has remained a mystery. Had Shah Jahan really built the Taj Mahal, the names of the architects would have been recorded in official accounts. And even the amount reportedly incurred in building the Taj Mahal varies greatly in different acounts.
When the Taj Mahal was built, it is claimed that the river Yamuna was half a mile away from the structure, but that the river was diverted to flow alongside the Taj Mahal. The truth of the matter is that the moghul regime lacked any civil engineering skill. Hindu palaces, however, always used to be built alongside the river.
Behind the Taj Mahal is a well built and paved river bank (known as a Ghat), used by Hindu royalty for the purpose of bathing. The gateways opening to the rear were later closed.
The Taj Mahal has towers, but no minarets. Hindu towers always start from the floor level, but moghul minarets rise from the shoulder of buildings.
Ironically, even the very name Taj Mahal means a royal residence! The Taj Mahal complex had stables, cowsheds, guesthouses and guard rooms – all these necessarily form part of a palace, but not of a mausoleum. There is even a drum chamber, when music is strictly forbidden in islamic religious places. The drum beats were used to herald royal arrivals and departures.
Further, there is an underground passage leading from the Taj Mahal to the Agra Fort, indicating its origin as a palace. And there are defensive hillocks (to prevent catapults being launched) as well as a moat to the rear, providing additional proof that the Taj Mahal was a Hindu palace. A lush orchard of flower and fruit trees could only have been part of palace, and not of a tomb.
In fact, the Taj Mahal is built to Hindu specifications. The ground plan consists of an octagonal central domed chamber with an inverted lotus crown, surrounded by four small domed chambers. This is the traditional form of Hindu architecture found in the Shilpa shastra (science of architecture). The Taj Mahal entrance faces south – had it been a
mughal building it would have faced west. The figure drawings of birds and animals found in other supposedly mughal monuments lends credence to this theory, since islamic law forbade the representation of nature in any form whatsoever.
To coclude, Shah Jahan’s lady love was buried in a Hindu palace, her grave was covered with masonry, and a cenotaph was constructed and carved with islamic inscriptions. The necessary renovations or repairs dragged on for a number of years. And sycophantic chroniclers added imaginary details to lend their ficticious accounts an air of credibility. This is the reason why medieval mughal tombs look so similar to Hindu palaces and temples.