TAJ MAHAL: MUSLIM MAUSOLEUM OR HINDU TEMPLE?
(16 September 2006) * Many excerpts from the BBC H2G2 website.

The BBC has unexpectedly sparked off a new debate about the history of the most famous monument in India, the Taj Mahal. Member postings on its peer-to-peer h2g2 site are debating the background of the romantic monument and asking whether is is really a Muslim mausoleum housing the remains of Shah Jahan's beloved wife, or whether it is really Lord Shiva's temple called 'Tejo Mahalaya'. Hindus are calling for an end to the speculation and asking that the current government open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal under U.N. supervision, and let international experts investigate the real history of the monument.

Up to now, no one has ever challenged the history of one of the world's greatest architectural treasures, except Professor P. N. Oak, who believes the whole world has been duped. In his book 'Taj Mahal: The True Story' published in 1995, Oak says the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz'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 the Shiva temple palace was usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh.

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, Humayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions. Oak's inquiries began with the name of Taj Mahal. He says the term "Mahal" has never been used for a building in any Muslim countries from Afghanistan to Algeria. "The unusual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal was 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 Lord 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 dedicated to Shiva, worshipped by 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 traveller 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 well before Shah Jahan's time.

Professor 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 Lord Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples . Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Professor Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition dire consequences . There is only one way to discredit or validate Oak's research. The current government should open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal under U.N. supervision, and let international experts investigate.

ABOUT 'TAJ MAHAL: THE TRUE STORY'

Taj Mahal: The True Story is a book written by P. N. Oak, the founder-president of the 'Institute for Rewriting Indian History'. The book seeks to prove that the Taj Mahal was originally a Hindu temple whose existence predated the Mughal Empire. As Oak says: "The people who dominate the Agra region are Jats. Their name of Shiva is Tejaji. The Jat special issue of The Illustrated Weekly of India (June 28,1971) mentions that the Jats have the Teja Mandirs i.e., Teja Temples. This is because Teja-Linga is among the several names of the Shiva Lingas. From this it is apparent that the Taj-Mahal is Tejo-Mahalaya, The Great Abode of Tej.

This article features many excerpts taken from the BBC h2G2 website. If you would like to participate in the debate, visit www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A5220.

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