TAJ MAHAL: MOTIVATED CONTROVERSIES BEING RAISED YET AGAIN
Ram Puniyani
Taj Mahal, regarded as one of the seven wonders of the World, is one of the major markers for India on the World map. It is a poem on marble; Guru Rabindranath Tagore described it as ‘drop of tear on the cheek of time’. Its beauty and fascination as a symbol of love is remarkable. It is a UNESCO heritage site and is maintained by the Archeological Survey of India. It is a marvel on marble and its replicas were given as the gift to the visiting heads of state.
Since it was constructed by Mughal ruler Shahjahan in memory of his wife Mumtaj Mahal, it has been an eyesore to the Hindu right wing. Though its history has been settled by the Archeological Survey of India and even the Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said that it was not Shiv Temple, in 2017, during the Modi regime. The controversies are deliberately raised to boost the communal divides by the right-wing leaders and ideologues, time and over again. Even ASI has time and again clarified it being a mausoleum and not a temple.
The first major controversy around it was created with Yogi Adityanath becoming the Chief Minister of UP. His tourism department published a booklet about sites of tourist attraction in UP. This booklet did not mention Taj as one of the sites of tourist attraction, despite nearly 12000 visitors being attracted to this marvel on a daily basis. It attracts 23% of tourists to India. When questioned he retaliated that Taj does not reflect Indian Culture.
Now another film by Paresh Raval is coming. Its trailer shows that as its dome is lifted Lord Shiva appears. The forthcoming film ‘The Taj Story’ as it appears from its trailers is an attempt to propagate the Taj as Tejo Mahalay, which was converted into a tomb by Shahjahan.
The argument of the forthcoming film is that Taj was a Hindu temple, Shiv Temple, Tejo Mahalay, built in 4th Century (Later revised to say 11th Century) and converted into a Mausoleum by Mughal ruler Shahjahan. It being 4th century temple was put forward by a lawyer P.N. Oak. Historian Ruchika Sharma rubbishes Oak on the basis of Historical evidence, “But Oak, who did not know Farsi perhaps missed this vital detail that rubbishes his theory of the Taj being a reused 4th century palace. Historians such as Giles Tillotson also challenged Oak’s theory by asserting that the “technical know-how to create a building with the structural form of the Taj simply did not exist in pre-Mughal India”. The mystery of 21 empty rooms at bottom was also clarified by ASI. Architecturally it was to give stability to the structure and they are empty rooms, and used for maintenance purposes. This was clarified during the Modi regime itself.
Once the 4th century theory did not work P.N.Oak revised it to say that it was a 12th century temple. Sharma continues “Yet, Oak armed himself with make-believe and propaganda and petitioned the Supreme Court of India in July 2000, that the Taj was constructed by Raja Paramar Dev’s chief minister Salakshan in the 12th century and was therefore a Hindu structure “Tejo Mahalaya” and not made by Mughals.
Oak went up to the Supreme Court to make his point, the highest court rebuffed his fantasy bereft of historical evidence. His major argument was related to architectural aspects of the tomb. The dome at top, the inverted lotus at the top and the 21 empty rooms at the bottom. Similarly, later one Amarnath Mishra approached the Allahabad High Court to petition that this was built by Chandela King Parmadi, this was also dismissed by the court in 2005)
There are detailed accounts available about the construction of Taj which are from immaculate historical sources. Peter Mundy and Tavernier, two travelers, mention that during their visit to India they came to know of Shahjahan’s grief and his determination to build a grand structure in memory of his wife, Mumtaj Mahal. Shahjahan made grand plans by involving the architects, the chief one being a Muslims (Ustad Ahmad Lahori) and his major associate being a Hindu architect. Badshah Nama the biography of Shahjahan gives a detailed account of the whole process. The group of people put together to plan and execute it.
The land chosen for Taj had belonged to Raja Jaisingh. There are two versions of the process of acquiring this. One says that it was procured by giving due compensation, the other mentioning that Raja Jaisingh gifted it to the emperor as they were on friendly terms. The architecture of Taj is a great reflection of the syncretic traditions which prevailed here. The double dome structures were introduced by Mughal architects, Lal Kila (Red fort) and Humayun’s tomb being another example of this. These Hindu Temples had the triangular superstructures. Later domes were also introduced in temples. Architecture is not an exclusive process and the mixture of architectural styles is part of the process of civilizations.
The twenty thousand artisans were hired. As the Mughal administration used to have a construction division, the marvelous structures of North India are not a flash in the pan. Somehow the rumor is making rounds that the hands of these workers were cut. There is no source to substantiate this in any way. The account books and documents of Shahjahan’s time amply tell us the detailed accounts of expenditure done to build the Taj. The account books mention the amounts spent to buy marble from Makrana and wages paid to the workers. Some prevalent Hindu motifs were made part of the structure as Hindu architects and workers were part of the process of construction.
In a lighter vein one should mention P.N. Oaks fertile and banal imagination which puts the whole World civilization having roots in Hindu culture. For him Christianity is Krishna Niti; Vatican comes from Vatika and Rome from Ram! Despite his things based on such superficialities devoid of any historical evidence, he kept publishing books and small booklets which were circulated in RSS shakhas to propagate his theories to become part of social understanding.
Most of the points raised by film (as shown in the trailers) on Taj Mahal were clarified a decade ago, still the idea of reviving all this is a political one as it helps the Hindu nationalist agenda of spreading hate against Mughal rulers and thereby reflected on today’s Muslims.
This film is yet another propaganda film in the series of Kashmir Files, Bengal Files, Kerala Story and so many like these whose aim is to intensify right-wing propaganda. This film adds on to that and will be yet another tool for the divisiveness and hate ruling roost in contemporary India.
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