One of the most splendid and magnificent architectural marvels of the world, Taj Mahal is a universally admired 17th century heritage. Built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, it’s a huge mausoleum of white marble and the most visited tourist monument of India.

Information about its history, architectural style, grandiose etc. is easy to find for anyone. But I often used to wonder about several myths and stories surrounding it. Here I’m stating some popular myths mixed with some interesting facts. You need to decide which among these is a fact and which one a myth 😉.

Hands of masons were cut off after the completion of Taj Mahal project

This is the most popular myth and makes its story sensational. But there is no truth in it. So it’s a mystery to me as how it all started up.

The fact is that the lead architect Ustad Ahmed Lahauri laid the foundation of Red Fort too, which was built after the Taj Mahal.

Emperor Shah Jahan also set up a vast settlement called Taj Ganj to house thousands of masons and artisans who came from distant places for this project. This settlement still exists with the same name and descendants of those Taj workers still continue to live there and practice the skills of their forefathers.

Presence of a small hole in the ceiling

There is a small hole in the ceiling of the main hall right above the Mumtaz’s tombstone. This is rumoured to be work of an artisan who came to know about the Shah Jahan’s plan to amputate the arms of all workers. So this artisan wanted to sabotage his dream of creating a masterpiece. Hence Taj Mahal is not flawless as we think of it.

It was a Hindu temple called Tejo Mahalaya

This is probably a conspiracy which came into existrence with the publication of Purushottam Nagesh Oak’s book titled “Taj Mahal: The True Story”. In this book he talks about several evidences of Taj Mahal being a Hindu temple of Lord Shiva which was constructed by a Rajput king Jai Singh about 300 years prior to Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan transformed it into a tomb after seizing it. The book gives a lot of illustrations and pictures displaying the motifs, designs, art, architecture, layout, drawings and detailing which are characteristic of Hindus and not Mughals. He also points towards the tempering in the marble (evident by the difference in colour) to put Quranic letters in the center of the arch by Shah Jahan.

Carbon dating from the doors of Taj Mahal by Prof. Marvin Mills also proves that its from hundreds of years before Shah Jahan.

Other right wing people like Amar Nath Mishra too has filed a case with Government stating that it was constructed by a Hindu king named Parmar Dev way back in 12th century.

British wanted to dismantle the Taj

This is an early 19th century myth when Governor General Lord Willim Bentinck found the building housing a Mughal Hammam (royal bath) was in decrepit condition. So he ordered its marble to be sold off piecemeal in order to clear it. This propagated the rumour of his decision of dismantling Taj Mahal. It reached to Calcutta and got highlighted in some media.

Hiding of Taj Mahal during wars

To protect bombing on Taj Mahal, Government had erected a huge scaffolding of bamboo to camouflage it. During Pakistan war of 1971 and terrorist attacks, a green cloth was used to camouflage it.

Minarets tilt a little outwards

Yes, all the four minarets of Taj Mahal are tilting outwards. This was done to protect the main dome from earthquakes.

Natwarlal sold Taj Mahal several times

The legendary Indian conman Natwarlal is credited for selling Taj Mahal many times over. And it’s true. Not only Taj Mahal, he also sold off Parliament House of India, Presidential Building (Rashtrapati Bhawan) and what not!

In 2000, P. C. Sorkar momentarily made Taj Mahal invisible

Fame magician P. C. Sorkar made the Taj Mahal vanish in front of a large audience in 2000.

Taj Mahal is taller than Qutub Minar

Although Qutub Minar is the tallest brick minaret in the world, it is about 5 feet shorter than Taj Mahal. Qutub Minar is 239.5 feet whereas Taj Mahal is 243.5 ft.

Taj Mahal changes its colour

One of the unique things about Taj is that its colour changes with time. In the morning it’s pinkish and in day time it’s white. On a fullmoon night, it turns golden. These colour change depicts the mood changes of the Queen Mumtaz Mahal throughout the day.

Shah Jahan wanted to build a black Taj Mahal across the river

Shah Jahan wanted to build yet another identical Taj Mahal in black stone just across the river as his own tomb. But he couldn’t do it after his son Aurangzeb took over the kingdom from him. It’s said remains of a black stone structure which Shah Jahan had started building still exists across the river.

Timber is used for its foundation

Taj Mahal has a wooden foundation. But it’s not destroyed yet as it gets moisture and water from river Yamuna. It’s feared that when Yamuna will get dry or change its path, Taj Mahal will collapse.

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There are many more interesting facts and myths surrounding this wonderful monument. I hope you enjoyed going through all these.

• Does any of these sound utter bullshit to you?
• Were you amazed by any of these? Which of these you found interesting?
  

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