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> Agrawalqag
> Subject: FW: Taj Mahal ! A temple of Lord shiva ???
>
> > The mogul emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal
> > built the Taj Mahal. It was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000
> > artisans brought to India from all over the world. Many people believe
> > Ustad
> > Isa of Iran designed it.This is what your guide probably told you if you
> > ever visited the Taj Mahal in India. This is the story I read in my
> > history
> > book as a student in India. No one has ever challenged it except
> Professor
> > P.N. Oak, who believes the whole world has been duped.In his book
> > Tajmahol:
> > The True Story, Oak says the Taj Mahal is not
> > Queen Mumtaj 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 the Shiva temple
> > palace was 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, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally
> > beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's
> > burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur still retains in his secret collection
> > two
> > orders from Shah Jahan for
> > surrendering the Taj building.Using 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. Oak's inquiries begin with the name Taj
> > Mahal. He says this term does not occur in any Mogul court papers or
> > chronicles, even after ShahJahan's time. The term "Mahal" has never been
> > used as a building in any of the Muslim countries, from Afghanistan to
> > Algeria."The unusual explanation of the term Taj Mahal derives from
> Mumtaj
> > Mahal is illogical in at least two respects. Firstly, her name was never
> > Mumtaj 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 court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy
> > archeologists. Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's time
> > corroborates
> > the love story. Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting the
> Taj
> > Mahal predate 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 Albert Mandelslo, 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 inaccessible 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.
> >
> > There is only one way to discredit or validate Oak's research. The
> current
> > Indian government should open the sealed rooms of Taj Mahal under UN
> > supervision, and let international experts investigate.
> >
> >