Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal (From Sanskrit: Tejo Mahalay, "The Great Abode of

Tej"), Teja (Jats'1 name of Shiva is Tejaji) + Mahalay (mansion) is a Temple Palace of
Lord Shiva located in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal is the finest example of Hindu
architecture.

The Taj Mahal (Tejo Mahalay)

Known as one of the Seven Wonders of the world, this magnificent seven storied temple
mansion comprises ofmajestic garden, interior water well, 400 to 500 rooms, 22
apartments, archaded verendahs, terraces,multi stored towers, underground
passage, guest rooms, stables, music house, drum chamber, cowsheds,
and guard rooms — that necessarily form part of a palace. On the pinnacle of the
dome is the Trishul (the trident), red lotus at apex of the entrance, typical Vedic
style corridors and the sacred, esoteric letter "AUM" carved on the exterior of the wall
of the sanctum sanctorum now occupied by the cenotaphs were of Hindu architecture,
built by Hindu craftsmen, with Hindu design. Its marblework is similar to the Amber
palace at Jaipur built some six hundred years earlier by Raja Man Singh I in 1592
and completed by Sawai Jai Singh I.

During the Mongul rule, this Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah
Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur,Jai Singh. Shah Jahan then remodeled the palace
into his wife's memorial. In his own court chronicle,Badshahnama (on page 403, Vol.
1), Shah Jahan states that a grand mansion of unique splendor, capped with a
dome, (imaarat-e-alishan wagumbaze) in Agra was taken from the Jaipur
Maharaja Jaisingh for Mumtaz's burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur is said to retain
in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for the surrender of the Taj building.

Historical Account
The Agra city, in which the Taj Mahal is located, is an ancient center of Shiva worship.
Its orthodox residents have through ages continued the tradition of worshiping at
five Shivashrines before taking the last meal every night especially during the month of
Shravan.

Fold
Table of Contents
Historical Account
The seizure from the Maharaja of Jaipur
Disfiguring and Tampering by Shah Jahan
Hindu Architecture
The Tejo Mahalaya inscription
European Visitor's and pre-Shahjahan's Accounts
Fabrication of History
Hidden, locked and sealed chambers
Inconsistencies as outlined by P.N.Oak
The name Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal is not a Tomb
Hindu Significance
Patches
Taj Mahal: The True Story
Pictures
The True Architectural Origin of Taj Mahal
Taj builders used Harappan measurement units

During the last few centuries the residents of Agra had to be content with worshiping at
only four prominent Shiva temples
viz.,Balkeshwar, Prithvinath, Manakameshwar and Rajarajeshwar. They had lost
track of the fifth Shiva deity which their forefathers worshiped. Apparently the fifth
was Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheshwar i.e., The Lord Great God of Agra, The
Deity of the King of Cobras, consecrated in the Tejo Mahalay (Taj Mahal).

The famous Hindu treatise on architecture titled Vishwakarma

Vastushastra mentions the 'Tej-Linga' amongst the Shivalingasi.e., the stone
emblems of Lord Shiva, the Hindu deity. Such a Tej Linga was consecrated in the Taj
Mahal, hence the term Taj Mahal alias Tejo Mahalay. The other name of the emblem
was Agreswar Mahadev and it is important to note that from the wordAgreswar, the
name of the city of Agra has been derived.

A locality in, nearly 4 km away from Taj Mahal, is called Bateswar and in
1900 A.D., General Cuningham, the then Director of the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI), conducted an excavation at Bateswar and discovered an edict, now known
as the Munj Bateswar Edict and kept at the Lucknow Museum. The epigraph contains
34 verses written in Sanskrit, out of which 25th, 26thand 34th verses are important in
the present context. An English translation of the above verses reads:

“He built a marble temple which is the abode of Lord Vishnu and the King bows down
to touch His feet” (25).

“The King has built another marble temple which has been dedicated to the Lord Who
has the moon as His ornament on His forehead” (26).

“Today, the 5th day of the bright half in the month of Ashwin, the Sunday, in the year
1212 of the Vikram Samvat, the edict is being laid” (34).

Mr. D. J. Kale, a well known archaeologist, has mentioned the said Munj Bateswar
Edict in his celebrated work Epigraphica India. On page 124 of the said book, Mr.
Kale writes,

“The sais Munj Bateswar Edict was laid by King Paramardidev of the Chandratreya
dynasty on Sukla Panchami in the month of Ashwin, in the year 1212 Vikram Samvat
(or A.D. 1156). … King Paramardidev built two magnificent temples with white marble,
one for Lords Vishnu and the other for Lord Shiva and they were desecrated later on
by the Muslim invaders. Perhaps a farsighted man took the edict to a safer place at
Bateswar abd buries it beneath the ground”.

Perhaps, after the said desecration, the temples were no longer used as religious places
and due to this reason Abdul Hamid Lahori mentioned them as palaces, not as temples.

According to the renowned historian Mr. R. C. Majumdar, the other name of

the Chandratreya or Chandel King Paramardidev was Paramal and their kingdsom
was known asBundelkhand, a.k.a. Jejakabhukti2.

Today, there are two marble palaces in Agra, one is the Mausoleum of Idmat-ud-
Daula, the father of Noorjahan and the other is Taj Mahal, and it is evident from
the Munj Bateswar edict that, once upon a time, one of them was the temple of Lord
Vishnu and the other was a temple of Lord Shiva. Experts believe that it is the temple
of Vishnu that has been made the mausoleum of Idmat-ud-Daula, and the temple of
Shiva has been converted into the mausoleum of the queen Arjumand Banu. A few
evidences in favour of this conclusion are given below.

The seizure from the Maharaja of Jaipur

The Muslims started their rule over India in 712 A.D. with the invasion of Mohammed
Qasem. During their rule they looted and destroyed hundreds of thousands of Hindu
temples. Aurangzeb himself destroyed 10,000 Hindu temples during his reign! Some of
the larger temples were converted into mosques or other Islamic structures. Ram
Janmbhoomi (at Ayodhya) and Mathura Krishna Temple (at Mathura) are just two
examples. The most evident of such structures is Taj Mahal.
The Badshahnama — Documentary evidence from Mogul records showing
clearly how the Taj was acquired from Raja Mansingh
Aurangzeb's Letter: Aurangzeb writing to his father Shahjahan within years
of completion as to extensive repairs required to the Taj.

An English translation of the contents from line 21 of page 402 to line 41 on page 403
of Badshahnama is given below.

“Friday, 15th Jamadiulawal, the sacred dead body of the traveller to the kingdom of
holiness Hazrat Mumtazul Zamani, who was temporarily buried, was brought,
accompanied by Prince Mohammad Shah, Suja bahadur, Wazir Khan and Satiunnesa
Khanam, who knew the pemperament of the deceased intimately and was well versed
in view of that Queen of the Queens used to hold, was brought to the capital Akbarabad
(Agra) and an order was issued that very day coins be distributed among the beggers
and fakirs. The site covered with a majestic garden, to ther south of the great city (of
Agra) and amidst which the building known as the palace of Raja Man Singh, at
present owned by Raja Jai asingh, grandson of Man Singh, was selected for the burial
of the Queen, whose abode is in heaven. Although Raja Jai Singh valued it greatly as
his ancestral heritage and property, yet he agreed to part with it gratis for Emperor
Shahjahan, still out of sheer scrupulousness and religious sanctity, he (Jai Singh) was
granted Sharifabad in exchange of that grand palace (Ali Manzil). After the arrival of
the deadbody in that great city (of Agra), next year that illustrious body of the Queen
was laid to rest and the officials of the capital, according to royal order, hid the body of
that pious lady from the eyes of the world and the palace so majestic (imarat-e-
alishan) and capped with a dome (wa gumbaje) was turned into a sky-high lofty
mausoleum”.

Aurangzeb's letter to his father, emperor Shah Jahan, is recorded in at least three
chronicles titled Aadaab-e-Alamgiri,Yadgarnama, and the Muruqqa-i-
Akbarabadi (edited by Said Ahmed, Agra, 1931, page 43, footnote 2). In that letter
Aurangzeb records in 1652 A.D itself that the several buildings in the fancied
burial place of Mumtaz were seven storeyed and were so old that they were all
leaking, while the dome had developed a crack on the northern
side. Aurangzeb, therefore, ordered immediate repairs to the buildings at his own
expense while recommending to the emperor that more elaborate repairs be carried out
later. This is the proof that during Shah Jahan's reign itself that the Taj
complex was so old as to need immediate repairs.

Shah Jahan then remodeled the palace into his wife's memorial. The use of captured
temples and mansions as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common
practice among Muslim rulers. For example, Hamayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and
Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions. Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have
remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time, and are still inaccessible to the public.

The Rajasthan State archives at Bikaner preserve three other firmans addressed by
Shah Jahan to the Jaipur's ruler Jaising ordering the latter to supply marble (for
Mumtaz's grave and koranic grafts) from his Makranna quarris, and stone cutters.
Jaisingh was apparently so enraged at the blatant seizure of the Tajmahal that he
refused to oblige Shah Jahan by providing marble for grafting koranic engravings and
fake centotaphs for further desecration of the Tajmahal. Jaising looked at Shah Jahan's
demand for marble and stone cutters, as an insult added to injury. Therefore, he
refused to send any marble and instead detained the stone cutters in his protective
custody.
The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur retains in his secret personal ‘KapadDwara’ collection two
orders from Shahjahan dated Dec 18, 1633 (bearing modern nos. R.176 and 177)
requestioning the Taj building complex. That was so blatant a usurpation that the then
ruler of Jaipur was ashamed to make the document public.

Bernier, a contemporary French visitor has noted that non-muslim's were barred entry
into the basement (at the time when Shah Jahan requisitioned Mansingh's palace)
which contained a dazzling light. Obviously, he reffered to the silver doors, gold railing,
the gem studded lattice and strings of pearl hanging over Shiva's idol. Shah Jahan
comandeered the building to grab all the wealth, making Mumtaz's death a convineant
pretext.

Disfiguring and Tampering by Shah Jahan

Far from the building of the Taj, Shah Jahan disfigured it with black koranic lettering
and heavily robbed it of its Sanskrit inscription, several idols and two huge stone
elephants extending their trunks in a welcome arch over the gateway where visitors
these days buy entry tickets.

Tavernier, a French jeweller has recorded in his travel memoirs that Shah Jahan
purposely buried Mumtaz near the Taz-i-Makan (i.e.,"The Taj building") where
foreigners used to come as they do even today so that the world may admire. He also
adds that the cost of the scaffold-ing was more than that of the entire work. The work
that Shah Jahan commissioned in the Tejomahalaya Shiva temple was plundering at the
costly fixtures inside it, uprooting the Shiva idols, planting the centotaphs in their place
on two stories, inscribing the koran along the arches and walling up six of the seven
stories of the Taj. It was this plunder, desecrating and plunderring of the rooms which
took 22 years.

A clue to the tampering by Shahjahan is found on pages 216-217, vol. 4, of

Archealogiical Survey of India Reports (published 1874) stating that a "great square
black balistic pillar which, with the base and capital of another pillar….now in
the grounds of Agra,…it is well known, once stood in the garden of Taj Mahal".

An Englishman, Thomas Twinning, records (pg. 191 of his book "Travels in India -
A Hundred Years ago") that in November 1794
"I arrived at the high walls which enclose the Taje-Mahal and its circumjacent
buildings. I here got out of the palanquine and … mounted a short flight of steps
leading to a beautiful portal which formed the centre of this side of the "Court of the
Elephants" as the great area was called."

The Taj Mahal is scrawled over with 14 chapters of the Koran but nowhere is there even
the slightest or the remotest allusion in that Islamic overwriting to Shah Jahan's
authorship of the Taj. Had Shah Jahan been the builder he would have said so in so
many words before beginning to quote Koran.

That Shah Jahan, far from building the marble Taj, only disfigured it with black lettering
is mentioned by the inscriber Amanat Khan Shirazi himself in an inscription on the
building. A close scrutiny of the Koranic lettering reveals that they are grafts patched
up with bits of variegated stone on an ancient Shiva temple.

Hindu Architecture
The arrangement of the domes, the lotus canopy, the trident pinnacle, the numerous
rooms in the building, the direction of the mansion and its triple domes, the "Gow-
shala", the "Nagar-khanas," and the surviving Hindu symbolism indicate that it was
originally built as a temple complex.

Well known Western authorities on architecture like E. B. Havell, Mrs.

Kenoyer and Sir W. W. Hunterhave gone on record to say that the Taj Mahal is built
in the Hindu temple style. Havell points out the ground plan of the ancient Hindu
Chandi Seva Temple in Java is identical with that of the Taj.
 These arches along the eastern side of the plinth are an
indication of the row upon row of rooms total 1089 that lie
hidden inside the marble plinth.

Dome: A central dome with cupolas at its four corners is a universal feature of Hindu
temples.

Pillars: The four marble pillars at the plinth corners are of the Hindu style. They are
used as lamp towers during night and watch towers during the day. Such towers serve
to demarcate the holy precincts. Hindu wedding altars and the altar set up for God
Satyanarayan worship have pillars raised at the four corners. 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.

Octagonal shape: The octagonal shape of the Taj Mahal has a special Hindu
significance because Hindus alone have special names for the eight directions, and
celestial guards assigned to them. 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 pinnacle points to the heaven while the
foundation signifies to the nether world. Hindu forts, cities, palaces and temples
generally have an octagonal layout or some octagonal features so that together with
the pinnacle and the foundation they cover all the ten directions in which the king or
God holds sway, according to Hindu belief.

Trident pinncle: The Tajmahal has a trident pinncle over the dome. A full scale of the
trident pinnacle is inlaid in the red stone courtyard to the east of the Taj. The central
shaft of the trident depicts a "Kalash" (sacred pot) holding two bent mango leaves and
a coconut. This is a sacred Hindu motif. Identical pinnacles have been seen over Hindu
and Buddhist temples in the Himalayan region. Tridents are also depicted against a red
lotus background at the apex of the stately marble arched entrances on all four sides of
the Taj. People fondly but mistakenly believed all these centuries that the Taj pinnacle
depicts a Islamic crescent and star was a lighting conductor installed by the British
rulers in India. Contrarily, the pinnacle is a marvel of Hindu metallurgy since the
pinnacle made of non-rusting alloy, is also perhaps a lightning deflector. That the
pinnacle of the replica is drawn in the eastern courtyard is significant because the east
is of special importance to the Hindus, as the direction in which the sun rises. The
pinnacle on the dome has the word ‘Allah’ on it after capture. The pinnacle figure on the
ground does not have the word Allah.

Gardens: Description of the gardens around the Taj of Shah Jahan's time mention
Ketaki, Jai, Jui, Champa, Maulashree, Harshringar and Bel. All these are plants whose
flowers or leaves are used in the worship of Hindu deities. Bel leaves are exclusively
used in Lord Shiva's worship. A graveyard is planted only with shady trees because the
idea of using fruit and flower from plants in a cemetary is abhorrent to human
conscience. The presence of Bel and other flower plants in the Taj garden is proof of its
having been a Shiva temple before seizure by Shah Jahan.

Yamuna river: Hindu temples are often built on river banks and sea beaches. The Taj
is one such built on the bank of the Yamuna river — an ideal location for a Shiva
temple. 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.
Resemblance of a Palace: 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.

Ganesa Torana: On the main gateway, the entire border at waist-height is decorated
with what is called the "Ganesa Torana" (the elephant trunk and the crown can be
clearly identified). In the southern entrance to the outer precincts of the Taj Complex
(i.e., the Taj Gunj gate facing the main gateway), above the door arch, there is a small
arched recess. It is customary in Hindu Forts (for example, the Nagardhan Fort,
Nagpur) to place an idol of Lord Ganesa in a similar recess above the main entrance.
Could it be that the recess above the Taj entrance also contained a similar idol, which
was subsequently removed by the iconoclastic invaders?

The Tejo Mahalaya inscription

Sanskrit inscription (known as the Bateshwar inscription) it is currently preserved in the

Lucknow museum. It refers to the raising of a "Crystal white Shiva temple so
alluring that Lord Shiva once enshrined in it decided never to return to Mount
Kailas—his usual abode". This inscription was found within a radius of about 36 miles
from the Taj Mahal. The inscription is dated 1155 A.D. and was removed from the Taj
Mahal garden at Shah Jahan's orders. Historians and Archaeologists have blundered in
terming the inscription the "Bateshwar inscription" when the record doesn't say that it
was found by Bateshwar. It ought, in fact, to be called "The Tejo Mahalaya
inscription" because it was originally installed in the Taj garden before it was uprooted
and cast away at Shah Jahan's command. From this it is clear that the Taj Mahal was
built at least 500 years before Shah Jahan.

European Visitor's and pre-Shahjahan's Accounts

Vincent Smith records in his book titled "Akbar the Great Moghul" that "Babur's
turbulent life came to an end in his garden palace in Agra in 1630". That palace was
none other than the Taj Mahal. Babur's daughter Gulbadan Begum in her chronicle
titled ‘Humayun Nama’ refers to the Taj as the Mystic House. Babur himself refers to
the Taj in his memoirs as the palace captured by Ibrahim Lodi containing a central
octagonal chamber and having pillars on the four sides. All these historical references
allude to the Taj 100 years before Shahjahan.

Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra recorded in 1632 (within only a year of
Mumtaz's death) that ‘the places of note in and around Agra, included Taj-e-Mahal’s
tomb, gardens and bazaars'.He, therefore, confirms that that the Tajmahal had been a
noteworthy building even before Shahjahan.

De Laet, a Dutch official has listed Mansingh's palace about a mile from Agra fort, as
an outstanding building of pre-shahjahan's time. Shahjahan's court chronicle, the
Badshahnama records, Mumtaz's burial in the same Mansingh's palace.

Bernier, a contemporary French visitor has noted that non muslim's were barred entry
into the basement (at the time when Shahjahan requisitioned Mansingh's palace) which
contained a dazzling light. Obviously, he reffered to the silver doors, gold railing, the
gem studded lattice and strings of pearl hanging over Shiva's idol. Shahjahan
comandeered the building to grab all the wealth, making Mumtaz's death a convineant
pretext.

Johan Albert Mandelslo, who describes life in agra in 1638 (only 7 years after
mumtaz's death) in detail (in his ‘Voyages and Travels to West-Indies’, published by
John Starkey and John Basset, London), makes no mention of the Tajmahal being
under constuction though it is commonly erringly asserted or assumed that the Taj was
being built from 1631 to 1653.

Fabrication of History
Probably there is none who has not been duped at least once in a life time. But can the
whole world be duped? This may seem impossible. But in the matter of Indian history
the world has been duped in many respects for hundreds of years and still continues to
be duped.

The world famous Taj Mahal in Agra is a glaring instance. For all the time, money and
energy that people the world over spend in visiting the Taj Mahal they are dished out a
concoction. Contrary to what visitors are made to believe the Taj Mahal is not an
Islamic mausoleum but an ancient Shiva temple known as Tejo Mahalaya which the 5th
generation Mogul emperor Shah Jahan commandeered from the then Maharaja of
Jaipur. Therefore the Taj Mahal must be viewed as a temple-palace complex and not as
a tomb.

The famous historian Shri P.N. Oak has proven that Taj Mahal is actually Tejo
Mahalaya — a shiv temple-palace. His work was published in 1965 in the book, Taj
Mahal - The True Story. However, we have not heard much about it because it was
banned by the corrupt and power crazed Congress government of Bharat who did not
want to alienate their precious vote bank—the Muslims.

Stories of Shah Jahan's exclusive infatuation for Mumtaz's are concoctions. They have
no basis in history nor has any book ever written on their fancied love affairs. Those
stories have been invented as an afterthought to make Shah Jahan's authorship of the
Taj look plausible. Historical evidence indicates that the Taj Mahal was already ancient
at the time of Shah Jahan. And the discussion upon the architecture leads to the
conclusion that the general layout of the Taj Complex resembles a Shiva temple.

Presently an attempt is being made to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Taj Mahal as
the present distorted Indian history bestows the credit of building the edifice to
Emperor Shah Jahan and claims that he completed the task of building Taj Mahal in
16**. But according to the Munj Bateswar Edict, the age of the building is 848 years
and hence the said effort of celebrating 350th anniversary of the 848 year old Taj Mahal
would be totally nonsensical and extremely ridiculous. At the same time, the Muslims of
this country are demanding to declare the same as a Wakf Property and hand the
building over to them. So, before taking any decision regarding the building, it is highly
necessary for the Central Government in Delhi to undertake elaborate archaeological
and scientific tests to ascertain the true antiquity of Taj Mahal.

Hidden, locked and sealed chambers

The Taj is a seven storied building. Prince Aurangzeb also mentions this in his letter to
Shahjahan. The marble edifice comprises four stories including the lone, tall circular hall
inside the top, and the lone chamber in the basement. In between are two floors each
containing 12 to 15 palatial rooms. Below the marble plinth reaching down to the river
at the rear are two more stories in red stone. They may be seen from the river bank.
The seventh storey must be below the ground (river) level since every ancient Hindu
building had a subterranian storey.

Immediately bellow the marble plinth on the river flank are 22 rooms in red stone with
their ventilators all walled up by Shahjahan. Those rooms, made uninhibitably by
Shahjahan, are kept locked by Archealogy Department of India. The lay visitor is kept
in the dark about them. Those 22 rooms still bear ancient Hindu paint on their walls
and ceilings. On their side is a nearly 33 feet long corridor. There are two door frames
one at either end ofthe corridor. But those doors are intriguingly sealed with brick and
lime.

Apparently those doorways originally sealed by Shahjahan have been since unsealed
and again walled up several times. In 1934 a resident of Delhi took a peep inside from
an opening in the upper part of the doorway. To his dismay he saw huge hall inside. It
contained many statues huddled around a central beheaded image of Lord Shiva. It
could be that, in there, are Sanskrit inscriptions too. All the seven stories of the
Tajmahal need to be unsealed and scoured to ascertain what evidence they may be
hiding in the form of Hindu images, Sanskrit inscriptions, scriptures, coins and utensils.

Apart from Hindu images hidden in the sealed stories it is also learnt that Hindu images
are also stored in the massive walls of the Taj. Between 1959 and 1962 when Mr. S.R.
Rao was the Archealogical Superintendent in Agra, he happened to notice a deep and
wide crack in the wall of the central octagonal chamber of the Taj. When a part of the
wall was dismantled to study the crack out popped two or three marble images. The
matter was hushed up and the images were reburied where they had been embedded
at Shahjahan's behest. Confirmation of this has been obtained from several sources. Its
walls and sealed chambers still hide in Hindu idols that were consecrated in it before
Shahjahan's seizure of the Taj.

Inconsistencies as outlined by P.N.Oak

The name Taj Mahal

The term Tajmahal itself never occurs in any mogul court paper or chronicle even in
Aurangzeb's time. The attempt to explain it away as Taj-i-mahal is therefore, ridiculous.
The ending "Mahal"is never muslim because in none of the muslim countries around the
world from Afghanistan to Algeria is there a building known as "Mahal". The unusual
explanation of the term Tajmahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal, who is buried in it, is
illogical in at least two respects viz., firstly her name was never Mumtaj Mahal but
Mumtaz-ul-Zamani and secondly one cannot omit the first three letters "Mum" from a
woman's name to derive the remainder as the name of the building. Since the lady's
name was Mumtaz (ending with 'Z') the name of the building derived from her should
have been Taz Mahal, if at all, and not Taj (spelled with a 'J').

Since the term Taj Mahal does not occur in mogul courts it is absurd to search for any
mogul explanation for it. Both its components namely, 'Taj' and' Mahal' are of Sanskrit
origin. Moreover, if the Taj is believed to be a burial place, how can the term Mahal,
i.e., mansion apply to it?

Several European visitors of Shahjahan's time allude to the building as Taj-e-Mahal is

almost the correct tradition, age old Sanskrit name Tej-o-Mahalaya, signifying a Shiva
temple. Contrarily Shahjahan and Aurangzeb scrupulously avoid using the Sanskrit
term and call it just a holy grave.

Taj Mahal is not a Tomb

The tomb should be understood to signify NOT A BUILDING but only the grave or
centotaph inside it. This would help people to realize that all dead muslim courtiers and
royalty including Humayun, Akbar, Mumtaz, Etmad-ud-Daula and Safdarjang have been
buried in capture Hindu mansions and temples.

No Muslim mausoleum has the facility for circumvolution, but Taj Mahal privides this
facility. It indicates that in the pre-Muslim era, devotees used to avail this facility to
move round the emblem of Lord Shiva. Tavernier, a French traveller of that time, wrote
in his annals that a bazaar used to be held within the Taj complex and it is solely a
Hindu tradition to hold bazaars and fairs within a temple complex, which is totally
unusual for a Muslim mausoleum.

The two buildings which face the marble Taj from the east and west are identical in
design, size and shape and yet the eastern building is explained away by Islamic
tradition, as a community hall while the western building is claimed to be a mosque.
How could buildings meant for radically different purposes be identical? This proves that
the western building was put to use as a mosque after seizure of the Taj property by
Shahjahan. Curiously enough the building being explained away as a mosque has no
minaret. They form a pair af reception pavilions of the Tejomahalaya temple palace.

A few yards away from the same flank is the Nakkar Khana alias DrumHouse which is a
intolerable incongruity for Islam. The proximity of the Drum House indicates that the
western annex was not originally a mosque. Contrarily a drum house is a neccesity in a
Hindu temple or palace because Hindu chores,in the morning and evening, begin to the
sweet strains of music.

The embossed patterns on the marble exterior of the centotaph chamber wall are
foilage of the conch shell design and the Hindu letter "OM". The octagonally laid marble
lattices inside the centotaph chamber depict pink lotuses on their top railing. The Lotus,
the conch and the OM are the sacred motifs associated with the Hindu deities and
temples.

Between the so-called mosque and the drum house is a multistoried octagonal well with
a flight of stairs reaching down to the water level. This is a traditional treasury well in
Hindu temple palaces. Treasure chests used to be kept in the lower apartments while
treasury personnel had their offices in the upper chambers. The circular stairs made it
difficult for intruders to reach down to the treasury or to escape with it undetected or
unpursued. In case the premises had to be surrendered to a besieging enemy the
treasure could be pushed into the well to remain hidden from the conquerer and remain
safe for salvaging if the place was reconquered. Such an elaborate multistoried well is
superflous for a mere mausoleum. Such a grand, gigantic well is unneccesary for a
tomb.

Hindu Significance

The spot occupied by Mumtaz's centotaph was formerly occupied by the Hindu Teja
Linga a lithic representation of Lord Shiva. Around it are five perambulatory passages.
Perambulation could be done around the marble lattice or through the spacious marble
chambers surrounding the centotaph chamber, and in the open over the marble
platform. It is also customary for the Hindus to have apertures along the perambulatory
passage, overlooking the deity. Such apertures exist in the perambulatories in the
Tajmahal.
The sanctom sanctorum in the Taj has silver doors and gold railings as Hindu temples
have. It also had nets of pearl and gems stuffed in the marble lattices. It was the lure
of this wealth which made Shahjahan commandeer the Taj from a helpless vassal
Jaisingh, the then ruler of Jaipur.

Peter Mundy, a Englishman records (in 1632, within a year of Mumtaz's death) having
seen a gem studded gold railing around her tomb. Had the Taj been under construction
for 22 years, a costly gold railing would not have been noticed by Peter mundy within a
year of Mumtaz's death. Such costl fixtures are installed in a building only after it is
ready for use. This indicates that Mumtaz's centotaph was grafted in place of the
Shivalinga in the centre of the gold railings. Subsequently the gold railings, silver doors,
nets of pearls, gem fillings etc. were all carried away to Shahjahan's treasury. The
seizure of the Taj thus constituted an act of highhanded Moghul robery causing a big
row between Shahjahan and Jaisingh.

Above Mumtaz's centotaph hangs a chain by which now hangs a lamp. Before capture
by Shahjahan the chain used to hold a water pitcher from which water used to drip on
the Shivalinga.

Patches

In the marble flooring around Mumtaz's centotaph may be seen tiny mosaic patches.
Those patches indicate the spots where the support for the gold railings were
embedded in the floor. They indicate a rectangular fencing.

Taj Mahal: The True Story

In his book Taj Mahal: The True Story, P.N.Oak says the Taj Mahal is not Queen
Mumtaz Mahal's tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as
Tejo Mahalaya). In the course of his research, Oak discovered that Shiva temple palace
was usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh.

Oak's inquiries begin with the name Taj Mahal…. He says this term does not occur in
any Moghul court papers or chronicles, even after Shah Jahan's time. The term "Mahal"
has never been used for a building in any of the Muslim countries, from Afghanistan to
Algeria. "The unusual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal
is illogical in at least 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 the 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 palace dedicated to Shiva worshipped by the Rajputs of
Agra city. For example, Professor 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 Al! Bert Man delslo, who visited
Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the city 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 long well before Shah Jahan's time.

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 not
accessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Shiva and other
objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples. Fearing political backlash,
Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores,
and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition with dire consequences.

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