Taj Mahal

:This article is about the Indian monument. For other uses, see Taj Mahal (disambiguation)

Legends and theories

Designers supposedly mutilated

An unlikely legend claims that after the completion of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan had the eyes of architect Ustad Ahmed gouged, ensuring that nothing could be built competing with its magnificence. Other exaggerated stories tell of skilled sculptors and artisans whose hands were lopped off after their work was complete to prevent them from ever making anything as glorious as the Taj again. There is no credible documentation to support these stories, however.

Related Topics:
Taj Mahal - Shah Jahan - Ustad Ahmed

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The "Black Taj"

A longstanding popular tradition holds that an identical mausoleum complex was originally supposed to be built on the other side of the river, in black marble instead of white. The story suggests that Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb before the black version could be built. Ruins of dark marble found across the river are, the story suggests, the unfinished base of this "Black Taj".

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Recent scholarship disputes this theory, and throws some interesting light on the design of the Taj. All other major Mughal tombs were sited in gardens that form a cross, with the tomb at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal pieces. The Taj gardens, by contrast, form a great 'T', with the tomb at the centre of the crosspiece. But the outline of the ruins on the other river bank would extend the design of the Taj gardens to form a cross of proportions typical of other Mughal tombs. Further, the marble in the ruins opposite the Taj, while dark from staining, were originally white. In addition, an octagonal pool in these ruins would have reflected the Taj. Scholars have called these ruins the Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden."

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Shah Jahan's asymmetric tomb

Aurangzeb had Shah Jahan's tomb and cenotaph placed in the Taj rather than building him a separate mausoleum such as other emperors had. He thus destroyed the symmetry of the Taj design. A variation on the Black Taj legend suggests that Aurangzeb's decision was made from malice or parsimony. In Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb however, which was a big influence on the Taj design, Aurangzeb's grandparents were interred in a similar asymmetric fashion.

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Was the Taj originally a temple?

Recently, some Hindu historians have asserted that the Taj was essentially a temple, or that its architecture is based on Hindu temples. Most prominent among these is the Indian writer P.N. Oak, who suggests that the term 'Taj Mahal' is derived from 'Tejo Mahalaya'. He further states that the Taj was originally a Hindu temple of the God Shiva, usurped and remodelled by Shah Jahan. Other sources state that the temple was completely destroyed. Such theories are not accepted by mainstream scholars.

Related Topics:
Hindu - P.N. Oak - Shiva

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