Taj Mahal
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Mutilation of the craftsmen
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. No evidence for these legends exists, and no respected authority finds them 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. According to Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli, the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort and of the metal from a famous but obsolete Agra cannon.[10] However, others, led by the Archaeological Survey of India, still believe and argue that a sale by the British East India Company was planned under Lord Bentinck watch, though no satisfactory buyers were found.
Was the Taj Mahal originally a temple or a palace?
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”.
Oak also claims that the tombs of Humayun, Akbar and Itmiad-u-Dallah – as well as the Vatican in Rome,[13] the Kaaba in Mecca, Stonehenge and “all historic buildings” in India – were also Hindu temples or palaces.
The Taj is only a typical illustration of how all historic buildings and townships from Kashmir to Cape Comorin though of Hindu origin have been ascribed to this or that Muslim ruler or courtier.
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.
His many provocative assertions have gained a lot of popular interest and made Oak a well-known media figure.
He has sued to break open the cenotaphs, and to tear down brick walls in the lower plinth: In these “fake tombs” and “sealed apartments”, Oak says Shivalingams or other temple items were hidden by Shah Jahan.
According to Oak, the Indian government's refusal to allow him unfettered access amounts to a conspiracy against Hinduism.
Oak's assertions are not accepted by legitimate scholars. But these stories are widely believed and publicized by some contemporary Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) activists.
In 2000 India's Supreme Court dismissed Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king built the Taj Mahal and reprimanded him for bringing the action.[15] In 2005 a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who claims that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmar Dev in 1196.
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