Taj Mahal Or Tejo Mahalaya, A Shiv Temple? Get The Facts Straight
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
1 May 2022
A Seer
From Ayodhya Has Called For A Prayer Session At The Taj Mahal On May 5 Alleging
That The Monument Was The Tejo Mahalaya, A Shiv Temple
Taj Mahal
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A seer from
Ayodhya has called for a prayer session at the Taj Mahal on May 5 alleging that
the monument was the Tejomahalaya, a Shiv temple.
Quoting
Rana Safvi from Daily O, 24/10/2017, " When Mumtaz Mahal died and it was
decided to bury her in Akbarabad, as Agra was known then, a search for the best
place to build her mausoleum was undertaken. Her grieving husband had already
decided to make her resting place a veritable paradise itself. A majestic and
huge tomb was to be constructed. Since the structure would be very heavy, the
architects took the decision to support it on large wooden slabs built over
deep wells. This stabilised the sand and acted as augured piles. For this
purpose, the position chosen was at a node in the River Yamuna, which seemed
the most suitable. This plot of land belonged to Raja Man Singh, Akbar’s
general who had marriage ties with the Mughals."
Taj Mahal
was built on the land where Raja Jai Singh had a mansion and there is no
mention of any religious building on that land (courtesy, Taj Mahal: The
Illumined Tomb by W E Begley and ZA Desai). Moreover, according to the rules,
esp. the theological rules of Islam, a mausoleum cannot be built upon an
already existing religious structure belonging to Islam or of any other faith.
It's considered to be profane from Islamic religious perspective.
P N Oak's
theory that Tejo Mahalaya (a Hindu temple) was later renamed or rechristened as
Taj Mahal by Shah Jahan or Mughals, doesn't hold water for Mughals spoke
Persian, which's a highly evolved and exquisite tongue. Shahjahan had no dearth
of 'new' names in Persian for his dream project. So, why on earth should he
retain the old name Tejo Mahalaya with a slight change to make it Taj Mahal?
Shahjahan had names like ' Khwabgaah', 'Hayaan' (archaic Persian word
for something exquisite) and ' Shabistan' (a magnificent bed-chamber)
for the grand mausoleum, but he zeroed in on Taj Mahal.
One more
myth about Taj Mahal is that Shah Jahan got the hands of the artisans chopped
off after the completion of the splendid
structure. This is a blatant lie. There were approximately 20, 000 workers who
built the Taj Mahal. Some names are still known:
Ustad Ahmad
Lahori : Main architect
Ismail
Afandi, Ottoman Empire: Designer of the Main Dome
Ustad Isa
and Isa Muhammad Effendi, from Persia: Architectural Designer
'Puru' from
Benarus, Persia: Supervisor Architect
Qazim Khan,
Lahore: Gilding
Chiranjilal,
Delhi: Chief Sculptor and Mosaicist
Amanat Khan
of Shiraz, Iran: Chief Calligrapher
Muhammad
Hanif: Mason Supervisor
Mir Abdul
Karim Khan and Mukkarimat of Shiraz: Financial Manager, Daily Production
Records in
Persian are available that all these people later participated in building the
mosques and palaces in Esfahan (about which it's famous in Persian-Esfahan
nesf-e jahan: Isfahan is half the world) and Khorasan in Iran and Central Asia.
Scores of artisans who built Taj were also involved in building other monuments
after Taj Mahal. Do you think they built those monuments sans their hands? It's
time to accept the truth and refrain from vitiating the vibes of the country
and envenoming the minds of the people .
----
An occasional columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit
Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam.
He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/taj-mahal-tejo-mahalaya-shiv-temple-/d/126908A