Was TAJ MAHAL a temple called TEJO MAHALAYA?

[brahman]

Please check it out (http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&&sa=X&ei=O81GTJDVJIPevQPJvJy2Aw&ved=0CCAQBSgA&q=tejo+mahalaya&spell=1)

[brahman]

103 points from a well known book entitled "The Taj Mahal is a Temple Palace"


1. The term Taj Mahal itself never occurs in any Mogul
court paper or chronicle even in Aurangzeb's time.

2. The attempt to explain it away as Taj-i-Mahal i.e. a
crown among residences is, therefore, ridiculous.

3. Moreover, if the Taj is believed to be a burial place how
can the term 'Mahal' i.e. 'mansion', apply to it?

4. The other popular Islamic explanation is that the term
'Taj Mahal' derives from 'Mumtaz Mahal'--the lady who
is supposed to be buried in it. This explanation is itself
full of absurdities as we shall presently see. It may be
noted at the outset that the term 'Taj' which ends in a 'j',
could not have been derived from Mumtaz ending in a'z'.

5. Moreover, the lady's name was never Mumtaz Mahal but
Arjum and Banu Begum alias Mum taz-ul-Zamani , as men-
tioned in Shahjahan's official court chronicle, the Bad-
shahnama.

6. Since the term Taj Mahal does not at all occur in Mogul
records it is absurd to search for any Mogul explanation
for it. Both its components namely 'Taj' and 'Mahal' are
of Sanskritic origin. Mahal in Hindu parlance signifies a
mansion i.e. a grand edifice. Taj is the popular corrup-
tion of the word 'Tej' meaning splendour. In no Muslim
country from Afghanistan to Abyssinia, is any edifice
described as Mahal.

7. The term Taj Mahal is a corrupt form of the Sanskrit
term 'Tejo Mahalaya' signifying a Shiva temple. Agresh-
war Mahadev i.e. the Lord God of Agra was consecrated
in it.

8. The famous Hindu treatise on architecture, titled Vis-
wakarma Vastushastra mentions the 'Tej Linga' amongst
Shiva Lingas i.e. stone emblems of Lord Shiva, the Hindu
deity. Such a Teja Linga was consecrated in the Taj
Mahal hence the term Taj Mahal alias Tejo Mahalaya.

9. Agra city, in which the Taj Mahal is located, is an
andent centre of Shiva worship. Its orthodox residents
have through the ages continued the tradition of wor-
shipping at five Shiva shrines before taking the last meal
every night especially during the month of Shravan.
During the last few centuries residents of Agra had to be
content with worshipping at only four prominent Shiva
temples viz. Balkeshwar, Prithvinath, Manakameshwar
and Rajarajeshwar. They had lost track of the fifth
Shiva deity which their forefathers worshipped. Appa-
rently the fifth was Agreshwar Mahadev i.e. the Lord
Great God of Agra consecrated in the Tejo-Mahalaya
alias Taj Mahal.

10. The people who dominate the Agra region are Jats.
Their name for Shiva is Tejaji. The Jat special issue of
the Illustrated Weekly of India (June 28, 1971) mentions
that the Jats have Teja Mandirs i.e. Teja temples. This
is because Teja Linga is one among several names of
Shiva Lingas mentioned in Hindu architectural texts.
From this it is apparent that the Taj Mahal is Tejo
Mahalaya, the Great Abode of Tej'.

11. A Sanskrit inscription too supports the above conclusion.
Known as the Bateshwar inscription it is currently pre-
served in the Lucknow museum. It refers to the raising
of a "Crystal white Shiva temple so alluring that Lord
Shiva once enshrined in it decided never to return to
Mount Kailas--his usual abode". This inscription was
found within a radius of about 36 miles from the Taj
Mahal. The inscription is dated 1155 A.D. From this it
is clear that the Taj Mahal was built at least 500 years
before Shahjahan.

12. Shahjahan's own court chronicle, the Badshahnama ad-
mits (on page 403, Vol. 1) that a grand mansion of unique
splendour, capped with a dome, (imaarat-e-alishan wa
gumbaze) was taken from the Jaipur Maharaja Jaisingh
for Mumtaz's burial.

13. The plaque put up by the archaeology department outside
the Taj Mahal describes the edifice as a mausoleum built
by Shahjahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, over 22 years
from 1631 to 1653. That plaque is a specimen of
historical bungling. Firstly, the plaque cites no authority
for its claim. Secondly, the lady's name was Mumtez-ul-
Zamani and not Mumtaz Mahal. Thirdly, the period of 22
years is taken from some mumbo jumbo noting by an
unreliable French visitor Tavernier, to the exclusion of
all Muslim versions, which is an absurdity.

14. Prince Aurangzab's letter to his father, emperor Shah-
jahan, belies the archaeological department's reliance on
Tavernier. Aurangzeb's letter is recorded in at least two
chronicles titled 'Aadaab-e-Alamgiri' and
'Yaadgaarnama'. In that Aurangzeb records in 1652 A.D.
itself that the buildings in the fancied burial place of
Mumtaz, were seven-storied and were so old that they
were all leaking, while the dome had developed a crack on
the northern side. Aurangzeb, therefore, ordered imme-
diate repairs to the buildings at his own expense while
recommending to the emperor that more elaborate re-
pairs be carried out later. This is proof that during
Shahjahan's reign itself the Taj complex was so old as to
need immediate repairs.

15. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur retains in his secret personal
custody two orders from Shahjahan dated December 18,
1633 (bearing modern numbers K.D. 176 and 177) requisi-
tioning the Taj building complex. That was so blatant a
usurpation that the then ruler of Jaipur was ashamed to
make the documents public.

16. The Rajasthan State Archives at Bikaner preserves three
other firmans addressed by Shahjahan to Jaipur's ruler
Jaisingh ordering the latter to supply marble from his
Makrana quarries, and stone cutters. Jaisingh was
apparently so enraged at the blatant seizure of the Taj
Mahal that he refused to oblige Shahjahan by providing
marble for grafting Koranic engravings and false tombs
for further desecration of the Taj Mahal. Jaisingh
looked upon Shahjahan's demand for marble and stone
cutters, as an insult added to injury.

17. The three firmans demanding marble were sent to
Jaisingh within about two years of Mumtaz's death. Had
Shahjahan really built the Taj Mahal over a period of 22
years the marble would have been needed only after 15
or 30 years and not immediately after Mumtaz's death.

18. Moreover, the three firmans mention neither the Taj
Mahal, nor Mumtaz, nor the burial. The cost and the
quantity of stone required also are not mentioned. This
proves that an insignificant quantity of marble was
needed just for some superficial tinkering and tampering
with the Taj Mahal. Even otherwise Shahjahan could
never hope to build a fabulous Taj Mahal by abject
dependence for marble on a non-cooperative vassal like
Jaisingh.

19. The Taj Mahal is scrawled over with 14 chapters of the
Koran but nowhere is there even the slightest or re-
motest allusion in that Islamic overwriting to Shahjahan's
authorship of the Taj. Had Shahjahan been the builder he
would have said so in so many words before beginning to
quote the Koran.

20. That Shahjahan far from building the marble Taj only
disf igured it with black lettering is mentioned by the
inscriber Amanat Khan Shirazi himself in an inscription
on the building.

21. Well known western authorities on architecture like E. B.
Havell, Mrs. Kenoyer and Sir W. W. Hunter have gone on
record to say that the Taj Mahal is built in the Hindu
temple style. Havell points out that the ground plan of
the ancient Hindu Chandi Seva temple in Java is identi-
cal with that of the Taj.

22. A central dome with cupolas at its four corners is a
universal feature of Hindu temples.

23. The four marble pillars at the plinth corners are of the
Hindu style. They were used as lamp towers during the
night and as watch towers during the day. Such towers
serve to demarcate the holy precincts. Hindu wedding
altars and the altar set up for God Satyanarayan worship
have pillars raised at the four corners.

24. The octagonal shape of the Taj Mahal has a special
Hindu significance because Hindus alone have special
names for the eight directions, and celestial guards
assigned to them. The pinnacle points to the heaven
while the foundation signifies the nether world. Hindu
forts, cities, palaces, and temples generally have an
octagonal layout or some octagonal features so that
together with the pinnacle and the foundation they cover
all the ten directions in which the king or god holds
sway, according to Hindu belief.

25. The Taj Mahal has a trident pinnacle over the dome. A
full scale figure of that trident pinnacle is inlaid in the
red stone courtyard to the east of the Taj. The central
shaft of the trident depicts a Kalash (sacred pot) holding
two bent mango leaves and a coconut. This is a sacred
Hindu motif. Identical pinnacles may be seen over Hindu
and Buddhist temples in the Himalayan region. Tridents
are also depicted against a red lotus background at the
apex of the stately marble arched entrances on all four
sides of the Taj Mahal. People fondly but mistakenly
believed all these three centuries that the Taj pinnacle
depicts an Islamic crescent and star or was a lightning
conductor installed by the British rulers of India. Con-
trarily the pinnacle is a marvel of Hindu metallurgy
since the pinnacle made of a non-rusting alloy, is also
perhaps a lightning deflector. That the replica of the
pinnacle is drawn in the eastern courtyard is significant
because the east is of special importance to the Hindus,
as the direction in which the sun rises. The pinnacle on
the dome has the word Allah carved on it after capture.
The pinnacle figure on the ground does not have the word
Allah.

26. The two buildings which face the marble Taj from the
east and west are identical in design, size and shape and
yet the eastern building is explained away by Islamic
tradition, as a community hall while the western building
is claimed to be a mosque. How could buildings meant
for radically different purposes be identical? This
proves that the western building was put to use as a
mosque after seizure of the Taj property by Shahjahan.
Curiously enough the building being explained away as a
mosque has no minaret.

27. A few yards away on the same flank is the Nakkar Khana
alias drum house which is an intolerable incongruity for
Islam. The proximity of the drum house indicates that
the western annex was not originally a mosque. Con-
trarily a drum house is a necessity in a Hindu temple or
palace because Hindu chores morning and evening begin
to the sweet strains of music.

28. The embossed patterns on the marble exterior of the
cenotaph chamber wall are foliage of the conch shell
design and the Hindu letter 'OM'. The octagonally laid
marble lattices inside the cenotaph chamber depict pink
lotuses on their top railing. The lotus, the OM and the
conch shell are sacred motifs associated with Hindu
deities and temples.

29. The spot occupied by Mumtaz's cenotaph was formerly
occupied by the Hindu Teja Linga--a lithic representa-
tion of Lord Shiva. That emblem may still lie buried in
the cenotaph for all we know. Around it are three
perambulatory passages. Perambulation could be done
around the marble lattice or through the spacious marble
chambers surrounding the cenotaph chamber, and in the
open over the marble platform. It is also customary for
Hindus to have apertures along the perambulatory pas-
sage, overlooking the deity. Such apertures exist in the
perambulatories in the Taj Mahal.

30. The sanctum sanctorum in the Taj Mahal had silver doors
and gold railings as Hindu temples still have. It also had
nets of pearl, and gems stuffed in the marble lattices. It
was the lure of this wealth which made Shahjahan
commandeer the Taj Mahal from a helpless vassal
Jaisingh, the then ruler of Jaipur.

31. Peter Mundy an Englishman who left India within a year
or two of Mumtaz's death notes having seen a gem-
studded gold railing around Mumtaz's tomb. Had the Taj
Mahal been under construction for 22 years a costly gold
railing would not have been noticed by Peter Mundy
within a couple of years of Mumtaz's death. Such costly
fixtures are installed in a building only after the building
is ready for use. This indicates that Mumtaz's cenotaph
was grafted in the centre of the gold railings. Subse-
quently the gold railings, silver doors, nets of pearls,
gem-fillings etc. were all carted away to Shahjahan's
treasury. The seizure of the Taj Mahal thus constituted
an act of high-handed Mogul robbery which occasioned
big tussle between Shahjahan and Jaisingh.

32. In the marble flooring around Mumtaz's cenotaph may be
seen tiny mosaic patches. Those patches indicate the
spots where the supports for the gold railings were
embedded in the floor. They indicate a rectangular
fencing.

33. Above Mumtaz's cenotaph, hangs a chain by which now
hangs a lamp. Before capture by Shahjahan the chain
used to hold a water pitcher from which water used to
drip on the Shiva Linga.

34. It is this earlier drip-drop Hindu tradition in the Taj
Mahal which gave rise to the Islamic myth of Shahjahan's
love tear dropping on Mumtaz's tomb on a full moon day
on winter eve.

35. There are many absurdities in the Shahjahan tear legend.
Firstly, Shahjahan was no saint capable of post-mortem
miracles. Secondly, why should only one lone tear drop on
the cenotaph in 365 days from a proverbially disconso-
late Shahjahan? Even that tear could be shed by
Shahjahan's ghost entering the chamber through the
public entrance to weep his heart out on Mumtaz's
tombstone itself. Why should Shahjahan's ghost perform
a precarious circus feat of clambering up a slippery
marble dome which even an agile monkey won't dare
attempt, and shed one tear once a year from a height Over
200 feet?

The tear is said to drop in the form of dew or rain water,
at the stroke of the midnight hour through a tiny needle hole
aperture made by an irate mason's random hammer stroke
This gives rise to many more absurdities viz. is the liquid the
secretion of Shahjahan's ghost or dew or rain? Furthermore
there is no aperture in the dome as is claimed or assumed.
Had there been any such, rain water would have leaked in too
and made the interior wet. Moreover, the Taj Mahal has a
double dome. The concave dome one sees from inside, ends
like a huge inverted pan on the terrace. The dome one sees
from the outside rests like a top hat on the inner dome. Inside
it is a huge chamber about 83 feet high with the convex top of
the inner dome providing a curious domed floor. Because of
this double dome arrangement no liquid, including Shahjahan's
tear can even drop inside the Taj. Even if the upper, dome has
a chance aperture the drop, if any, will be arrested by the
inner dome. This is a typical instance of how gullible
multitudes place quick and easy faith in the most absurd
concoctions.

36. Even the hammer-story is a fabrication. Firstly, nobody
seems to ask why should any mason bear any grudge
towards Shahjahan when the latter is said to have spent
liberally and lavishly in cam missioning the mausoleum?
Secondly, even if a mason bore any grudge he would not
be permitted access to the emperor to exchange hot
words with. Even if there were any argument between
the two it would not be between a Shahjahan standing in
the garden and the petulant mason on the slippery perch
like an irate monkey on top of the dome at a perpendi-
cular height of 243 feet or so. What is more, an angry
masonts most powerful hammer stroke would not make
even the slightest dent in the dome because the dome
has a 13 feet thick wall covered with hard marble.

The hammer stroke and tear drop stories are a fraudu-
lent Islamic fabrication based on two facts. One of those we
have already noted namely that in the Hindu tradition water
did drip in droplets from a pitcher hung over the Shiva Linga.

The second fact is that Shahjahan was so stingy by
nature that he did not want to spend even a cent from his own
treasury in transferring a captured Taj Mahal into an Islamic
mausoleum. His troops used to round up workers from Agra
city and the neighbourhood at sword point or at the crack of a
whip. Such forced labour was employed for years in pulling
out Hindu idols, grafting Koranic engravings, and sealing, five
Of the seven stories of the Taj klahal. Being compelled to
work for years without wages, the workmen rebelled. A
haughty Shahjahan punished them by amputating their hands.

37. But the above gruesome detail has been given a romantic
twist by fabricators of the Shahjahan legend. They want
people to believe that Shahjahan maimed the workers
because they should not build a rival Taj for someone
else. This facile, disingenious version is based on many
imponderable details. Firstly, for anybody to conceive a
rival Taj he should have had as comely and infatuating a
wife as Mumtaz is believed to have been. Secondly, she
should have died after the Taj Vlahal was supposed to
have been completed by Shahjahan. Thirdly, that fancied
prospective rival should be swayed by tearing envy and
jealousy. Fourthly, he must be as affluent as a Mogul
emperor and be an equally irresponsible spendthrift itch-
ing to squander his millions on a fabulous mausoleum.
Even if all this fantastic nonsense is conjured up as a
reality, an angry Shahjahan could still nip the competitive
impudence of a subject of his by a simple imperial fiat
prohibiting the budding of a rival Taj.

A further absurdity is that while on the one hand it is
contended that Shahjahan was so soft hearted as to weep
disconsolately over the death of his wife, it is also contended
In the same breath that he turned fiercely treacherous as soon
as the wonder mausoleum was complete and ordered the
maimimg of the master workmen. Would a sovereign be
gratified and reward the master craftsmen who execute a
work of art or would he punish them with maiming for all their
skill and devotion? Such rascality and treachery not attri-
buted even to a snake is unwittingly attributed to Shahjahan by
his absentminded admirers.

38. As one climbs down the stairs to the basement chamber
in the Taj, believed to house the real grave of Mumta2
one may take a close look at the walls on either side of
the first landing. The walls are finished with marble
slabs of dissimilar sizes. That indicates that ramps or
stairs branching off at the first landing, to go down to
the other chambers in the basement have been sealed off
by Shahjahan haphazardly with dissimilar slabs which
came handy.

39. Apart from these stairs there are many others which
have been sealed by Shahjahan. As one climbs up from
the red stone courtyard to the marble plinth one may
notice a square marble slab in front. Stamping one's feet
on it one gets a hollow sound. Thumping on the
surrounding slabs does not produce a hollow sound.
Apparently the square slab hides a man-size entrance to
a staircase leading to hidden chambers in the marble
basement. Another steep staircase sealed by Shahjahan
was discovered when a stone slab on the terrace beyond
the so-called mosque and octagonal well, was removed
for investigation when a chance thumping produced a
hollow sound there. This indicates the extent of Shah-
jahan's tampering with the Taj and that there is much
more to see and discover in the Taj, than meets the eye.

40. The Taj Mahal having originated as a temple palace it
has several dry, scavenging type toilets which lie un-
known to the lay visitor, locked and barred. Had it been
an Islamic mausoleum it should not have had toilets.

41. Between the so-called mosque and the drum house is a
multi-storied octagonal well with a flight of stairs
reaching down to the water level. This is the traditional
treasury well in Hindu temple palaces. Treasure chests
used to be kept in the lower apartments while treasury
personnel had their offices in the upper chambers. The
circular stairs made it difficult for intruders to reach
down to the treasure or to escape with it undetected or
unpursued. In case the premises had to be surrendered to
a besieging enemy the treasure could be pushed into the
well to remain hidden from the conqueror and remain
safe for salvaging if the place was reconquered. Such an
elaborate multi-storied well is superfluous for a mere
mausoleum.

42. Tavernier, a French merchant who happened to visit India
during Shahjahan's reign has noted in his memoirs that
Shahjahan "purposely" buried Mumtaz at the "the Taj-i-
Macan", (i.e. the Taj Mahal) so that the wood may
admire the burial spot because even foreigners used to
flock to see the Taj Mahal in Tavernier's time as they do
now. Those who are misled to believe that the Taj Sahel
finds no mention before Mumtaz's death, may note
Tavernier's reference.

43. Had Shahjahan really built the Taj Mahal as a wonder
mausoleum, history would have recorded a specific date
on which she was ceremoniously buried in the Taj Mahal.
No such date is ever mentioned. This important missing
detail decisively exposes the falsity of the Shahjahan
legend.

44. F.ven the year of Mumtaz's death is unknown. It is
variously speculated to be 1629, 1630, 1631 or 1632. Had
she deserved a fabulous burial, as is claimed, the date of
her death would not have been a matter of speculation.
In a harem teeming with 5000 women it was difficult to
keep track of dates of death. Apparently the date of
Mumtaz's death was so insignificant an event as not to
merit any special notice. Who would then build a Taj
Mahal for her burial?

45. Stories of Shahjahan's exclusive infatuation for \1umtaz
are concoctions. They have no basis in history nor has
any book ever been written on their fancied love affair.
Those stories have been invented as an after-thought to
make Shahjahan's authorship of the Taj, look plausible.

46. The cost of the Taj Mahal is nowhere recorded in
Shahjahan's court papers because Shahjahan never built
the Taj Vlahal. That is why wild estimates of the cost by
gullible writers have ranged from four million to 91.7
million rupees.

47. Likewise the period of construction has been guessed to
be anywhere between 10 and 22 years. There would not
have been any scope for such guesswork had the building
construction been on record in the court papers.

48. The designer of the Taj Mahal is also variously men-
tioned as Essa Effendy, a Persian or Turk or Ahmed
Mehendis or a Frenchman, Austin de Bordeaux or Geroni-
mo Veroneo an Italian or Shahjahan himself.

49. Twenty thousand labourers are supposed to have worked
for 22 years during Shahjahan's reign in building the Taj
Mahal. Had this been true, there should have been
available in Shahjahan's court papers heaps of labour
muster rolls, daily expenditure sheets, bills and receipts
for material ordered, and commissioning orders. There
is not even a scrap of paper of the kind.

50. It is, therefore, court flatterers, fiction writers and
senile poets who are responsible for hustling the world
into believing in Shahjahan's mythical authorship of the
Taj Mahal.

51. Descriptions of the garden around the Taj of Shahjahan's
time mention Ketaki, Jai, Ji, Champa, Maulashree, Har-
shringar and Bell All these are plants whose flowers or
leaves are used in the worship of Hindu deities. Bel
leaves are used exclusively in Shiva worship. A grave-
yard is planted only with shady trees because the idea of
using fruit or flower from plants in a cemetery is
abhorrent to human conscience. The presence of Bel and
other flower plants in the Taj garden is proof of its having
been a Shiva temple before seizure by Shahjahan.

52. Hindu temples are often built on river banks and sea
beaches. The Taj Mahal is one such built on the bank of
the Yamuna river--an ideal location for a Shiva temple.

53. Prophet Mohammad has ordained that the burial spot of
a Muslim should be inconspicuous and must not be
marked by even a single tombstone. In flagrant violation
of this the Taj Mahal has one grave in the basement and
another in the first floor chamber both ascribed to
Mumtaz. Those two cenotaphs were in fact erected by
Shahjahan to bury the two tier Shiva Lingas that were
consecrated in the Taj Mahal. It is customary for Hindus
to install two Shiva Lingas one over the other in two
stories as may be seen in the Mahankaleshwar temple in
Ujjain and the Somnath temple raised by Ahilyabai in
Somnath Pattan.

54. The Taj Mahal has identical entrance arches on all four
sides. This is a typical Hindu building style known as
Chaturmukhi i.e. four-faced.

SO. The Taj Mahal has a reverberating dome. Such a dome is
an absurdity for a tomb which must ensure peace and
silence. Contrarily reverberating domes are a necessity
in Hindu temples because they create an ecstatic din
multiplying and magnifying the sound of bells, drums and
pipes accompanying the worship of Hindu deities.

56. The Taj Mahal dome bears a lotus cap. Original Islamic
domes have a bald top as is exemplified by the Pakistan
Embassy domes in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi and the
domes in Pakistan's newly built capital Islamabad.

57. The Taj Mahal entrance faces south. Had the Taj been
an Islamic building it should have faced the west.

58. A widespread misunderstanding has resulted in mistaking
the building for the grave. Invading Islam raised graves
in captured buildings in every country it overran. There-
fore, hereafter people must learn not to confound the
building with the grave mounds which are grafts in
conquered buildings. This is true of the Taj Mahal too.

59. The Taj Mahal is a seven-storied building. Prince Au-
rangzeb also mentions this in his letter to Shahjahan.
The marble edifice comprises four stories including the
lone, tall circular hall inside the dome on top, and the
lone chamber in the basement. In between are two
floors each containing 12 to 15 palatial rooms.

Below the marble plinth reaching down to the river at the
rear are two more stories in red stone. They may be seen
from the river bank. The seventh story must be below the
ground (river) level since every ancient Hindu budding had a
subterranian story.

60. Immediately below the marble plinth on the river flank
are 22 rooms in red stone with their ventilators all
walled up by Shahjahan.

Those rooms made uninhabitable dark by Shahjahan are
kept locked by the archaeology department. The lay visitor is
kept in the dark about them. Those 22 rooms still bear ancient
Hindu paint on their walls and ceilings. On their inner side is a
nearly 300 ft. long corridor. There are two door frames one at
either end of the corridor. but those doorways are intriguingly
sealed with crumbling brick and lime.

61. Apparently those doorways originally sealed by Shah-
Jahan have been since unsealed and again walled up
several times. In 1934 a resident of Delhi took a peep
inside from an opening in the upper part of the doorway.
To his dismay he saw a huge hall inside. It contained
many statues huddled around a central beheaded image
of Lord Shiva. It could be that in there are Sanskrit
inscriptions too. All the seven stories of the Taj Mahal
need to be unsealed and scoured to ascertain what
evidence they may be hiding in the form of Hindu
Images, Sanskrit inscriptions, scriptures, coins and uten-
sils.


62. Apart from Hindu images hidden in the sealed stories it
is learnt that Hindu images are also buried in the
massive walls of the Taj Mahal. Between 1959 and 1962
when Mr. S. R. Rao was the archeological superinten-
dent In Agra he happened to notice a long, deep and wide
crack in a wall Of the central octagonal chamber of the
Tail When a part of the wall was dismantled to study the
crack out popped two or three marble images. The
matter was hushed up and the images were reburied
where they had been embedded at Shahjahan's behest.
Confirmation of this has been obtained from several
sources. It was only when I began my investigation into
the antecedents of the Taj that I came across the above
information which had remained a forgotten secret.

What better proof is needed of the temple origin off the
Taj Mahal? Its walls and sealed chambers still hide the Hindu
idols that were consecrated in it before Shahjahan's seizure of
the Taj Mahal.

63. Apparently the Taj Mahal as a temple palace seems to
have had a chequered history. The Taj was perhaps
desecrated and looted by every Muslim invader from
Mohammad Ghazni onwards but passing into Hindu hands
off and on the sanctity of the Taj Mahal as a Shiva
temple continued to be revived after every Muslim
onslaught. Shahjahan was the last Muslim to desecrate
the Taj Mahal alias Tejo Mahalaya.

64. Vincent Smith records in his book titled "Akbar the Great
Mogul" that "Babur's turbulent life came to an end in his
garden palace in Agra" in 1630. That palace was none
other than the Taj Mahal.

65. Babur's daughter Gulbadan Begum in her chronicle titled
Humayun Nama refers to the Taj Mahal as the Mystic
House.

66. Babur himself refers to the Taj Mahal in his memoirs as
a palace captured from Ibrahim Lodi containing a central
octagonal chamber and having pillars on the four sides.
All these historical references allude to the Taj Mahal
100 years before Shahjahan.

67. The Taj Mahal precincts extend to several hundred yards
in all directions. Across the river are ruins of the
annexes of the Taj, the bathing "hats and a jetty for the
ferry boat. In the Victoria gardens outside covered with
creepers is a long spur of the ancient outer wall ending
in an octagonal red stone tower. Such extensive grounds
all magnificently done up are a superfluity for a grave.

68. Had the Taj been built specially to bury Mumtaz, in it
should not have been cluttered with other graves. But
the Taj premises contain several other graves at least in
its eastern and southern pavilions.

69. In the southern flank on either side of the Tajgan gate
are buried in identical pavilions a queen Sarhandi Begum
and a maid Satunnisa Khanum. Such parity burial can be
justified only if the queen has been demoted or the maid
promoted. But since Shahjahan had commandeered (not
built) the Taj Mahal he reduced it indiscriminately to a
general Muslim cemetery as was the habit of all his
Islamic predecessors, and buried a queen in one vacant
pavilion and a maid in another identical pavilion.

70. Shahjahan was married to several other women before and
after Mumtaz. She, therefore deserved no special
consideration in having a wonder mausoleum built for
her.

71. Mumtaz was also a commoner by birth and so she did not
qualify for a fairyland burial.

72. Mumtaz died in Burhanpur which is about six hundred
miles from Agra. Her grave there is intact. Therefore,
the cenotaphs raised in two stories of the Taj, in her
name seem to be fakes hiding the Hindu Shiva emblems.

73. Shahjahan seems to have simulated Mumtaz's burial in
Agra to find a pretext to surround the temple palace
with his fierce and fanatic Islamic troops and remove all
its costly fixtures to his treasury. This finds confirma-
tion in the vague noting in the official chronicle, the
Badshahnama which says that Mumtaz's (exhumed) body
was brought to Agra from Burhanpur and buried "next
year". An official chronicle wouldn't use a nebulous
term unless it is to hide something.

74. A pertinent consideration is that a Shahjahan who did not
build any palaces for Mumtaz while she was alive and
kicking would not build a fabulous mausoleum for a
corpse which was no longer kicking or clicking.

75. Another factor is that Mumtaz died within two to three
years of Shahjahan becoming emperor. Could he amass
so much superfluous wealth in that short span as to
squander it on a wonder mausoleum?

76. While Shahjahan's special attachment to Mumtaz is no-
where recorded in history his amorous affairs with many
other ladies from maids to mannequins including his own
daughter Jahanara find special mention in accounts of
Shahjahan's reign. Would such a Shahjahan shower his
hard-earned wealth on Mumtaz's corpse?

77. Shahjahan was a stingy, usurious monarch. He came to
the throne murdering all his rivals. He was not, there-
fore, the doting spendthrift that he is made out to be.

78. A Shahjahan disconsolate on Mumtaz's death is suddenly
credited with a resolve to build the Taj. This is a
psychological incongruity. Grief is a disabling, incapaci-
tating emotion.

79. An infatuated Shahjahan is supposed to have raised the
Taj over a dead Mumtez, but carnal, physical, sexual
love is again an incapacitating emotion. A womanizer is
ipso facto incapable of any constructive activity. When
carnal love becomes uncontrollable the person either
murders somebody or commits suicide. He cannot raise
a Taj Mahal. A building like the Taj Mahal invariably
originates in an enabling emotion like devotion to god, to
one's mother and mother country or power and glory.

80. Early in the year 1973 chance digging in the garden
infront of the Taj revealed another set of fountains
about six feet below the present fountains. This proved
two things. Firstly, that the subterranean fountains
were there before Shahjahan laid the surface fountains.
And secondly that since those fountains are aligned to
the Taj that edifice too is of pre-shahjahan origin.
Apparently the garden and its fountains had sunk from
annual monsoon flooding and lack of maintenance for
centuries during Islamic rule.

81. The stately rooms on the upper floor of the Taj Mahal
have been stripped of their marble mosaic by Shahjahan
to obtain matching marble for raising fake tomb stones
inside the Taj premises at several places. Contrasting
with the rich, marble finished ground floor rooms the
stripping of the marble mosaic covering the lower half of
the walls and flooring of the upper story chambers have
given those rooms a naked, robbed, look. Since no
visitors are allowed entry to the upper story this des-
poilation by Shahjahan has remained a well-guarded
secret. There is no reason why Shahjahan's loot of the
upper floor marble should continue to be hidden from the
public even after two hundred years of termination of
Mogul rule.

82. Bernier, a French traveler has recorded that no non-
Muslim was allowed entry into the secret nether cham-
bers of the Taj because there were some dazzling costly
fixtures there. Had those been installed by Shahjahan
they should have been shown to the public as a matter of
pride. But since it was commandeered Hindu wealth
Shahjahan dared not show it to others lest it lead to
attempts at recapture.

83. The approach to the Taj Mahal is dotted with hillocks
raised with earth dug out from foundation trenches. The
hillocks served as outer defences of the Taj building
complex. Raising such hillocks from foundation earth, is
a common Hindu device of hoary origin. Nearby Bharat-
pur provides a graphic parallel.

Peter Mundy has recorded that Shahjahan employed
thousands of labourers to level some of those hillocks.
This is graphic proof of the Taj Mahal existing before
Shahjahan.

84. Tavernier, the French traveller has noted that Shahjahan
couldn't obtain timber for raising a scaffolding (to in-
scribe the Koran at various heights). Shahjahan had,
therefore, to raise a scaffolding of brick. As a result the
"cost of the scaffolding was more than that of the entire
work" says Tavernier. This is clear proof that Shahjahan
did not build the Taj but only inscribed the Koran.

85. The spiked gates at the various archways in the Taj
premises, and the moat still seen on the eastern flank
are defence devices not needed for a mausoleum.

86. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica the Taj build-
ing complex consists of guest rooms, guard rooms and
stables. These are irrelevant for a mausoleum.

87. At the backside river bank is a Hindu crematorium, a
Shiva temple and bathing "hats of ancient origin. Had
Shahjahan built the Taj Mahal, he would have destroyed
those Hindu features.

88. The story that Shahjahan wanted to build a black marble
Taj across the river, is another motivated myth. The
ruins dotting the other side of the river are those of
Hindu structures demolished during Muslim invasions and
not the plinth of another Taj Mahal. A Shahjahan who did
not build the white marble Taj would hardly ever think of
building a black marble Taj. He was so miserly that he
forced labourers to work gratis even in the superficial
tampering necessary to make a Hindu temple serve as a
Muslim tomb.

89. The marble that Shahjahan used for grafting Koranic
lettering in the Taj is of a pale white shade while the
rest of the Taj Mahal is built with marble of a rich
yellow tint. That disparity is proof of the Koranic
extracts being a superimposition.

90. Though imaginative attempts have been made by some
historians to foist some fictitious name on history as the
designer of the Taj Mahal others more imaginative have
credited Shahjahan himself with superb architectural
proficiency and artistic talent which could easily con-
ceive and even plan the Taj even in acute bereavement.
Such people betray gross ignorance of history inasmuch
as Shahjahan was a cruel tyrant, a great womanizer and
a drug and drink addict.

91. Fanciful accounts about Shahjahan commissioning the
Taj are all confused. Some assert that Shahjahan ordered
building drawings from all over the world and chose one
from among them. Others assert that a man at hand was
ordered to design a mausoleum and his design was approv-
ed. Had any of those versions been true Shabjahan's
court papers should have had thousands of drawings
concerning the Taj but there is not even one drawing.
This is yet another clinching proof that Shahjahan did not
commission the Taj.

92. The Taj Mahal is surrounded by huge ruined mansions
which indicate that great battles have been waged
around the Taj several times.

93. At the southeast corner of the Taj garden is an ancient
royal cattle house. Cows attached to the Tejo Mahalaya
temple used to be reared there. A cowshed is an
incongruity in an Islamic tomb.

94. On the western flank of the Taj are several stately red
stone annexes. These are superfluous for a mausoleum.

95. The entire Taj complex comprises 400 to 500 rooms.
Residential accommodation on such a stupendous scale is
unthinkable in a mausoleum.

96. The neighbouring Tajganj township's massive protective
wall also encloses the Taj Mahal temple palace complex.
This is clear indication that the Tejo-Mahalaya temple
palace was part and parcel of the township. A street of
that township leads straight into the Taj Mahal. The
Tajganj gate is aligned in a perfect straight line to the
octagonal red stone garden gate and the stately entrance
arch of the marble Taj Mahal. The Tajganj gate besides
being central to the Taj temple complex, is also put on a
pedestal. The western gate by which visitors enter the
Taj complex these days is a comparatively minor gate-
way. It has become the entry gate for most visitors
today because the railway station and the bus station are
on that side.

97. The Taj Mahal has pleasure pavilions which a tomb would
never have.

98. A tiny mirror glass in a gallery of the Red Fort in Agra
reflects the Taj Mahal. Shahjahan is said to have spent
the last eight years of his life as a prisoner in that
gallery peering at the reflected Taj Mahal and sighing in
the name of Mumtaz. This myth is a blend of many
falsehoods. Firstly, old Shahjahan was held prisoner by
his son Aurangzeb in a basement story in the fort and not
in an open, fashionable upper story. Secondly, that glass
piece was fixed in the 1930's by Insha Allah Khan, a peon
of the archeology department, just to illustrate to the
visitors how in ancient times the entire apartment used
to scintillate with tiny mirror pieces reflecting the Tejo
Mahalaya temple a thousand fold. Thirdly, an old
decrepit Shahjahan with pain in his joints and cataract in
his eyes, would not spend the day craning his neck at an
awkward angle to peer into a tiny glass piece with
bedimmed eyesight when he could as well turn his face
round and have a full, direct view of the Taj Mahal
itself. But the general public is so gullible as to gulp all
such absurd prattle of wily, unscrupulous guides.

99. That the Taj Mahal dome has hundreds of iron rings
sticking out of its exterior is a feature rarely noticed.
These are made to hold Hindu earthen oil lamps for
temple illumination.

100. Those putting implicit faith in Shahjahan's authorship of
the Taj have been imagining Shahjahan-Mumtaz to be a
soft-hearted romantic pair like Romeo and Juliet. But
contemporary accounts speak of Shahjahan as a hard
hearted ruler who was constantly egged on to acts of
tyranny and cruelty, by Mumtaz.

101. School and college history books carry the myth that
Shahjahan's reign was a golden period in which there was
peace and plenty and that Shahjahan commissioned many
buildings and patronized literature. This is a pure fabrica-
tion. Shahjahan did not commission even a single build-
ing as we have illustrated by a detailed analysis of the
Taj Mahal legend. Shahjahan had to engage in 48
military campaigns during a reign of nearly 30 years
which proves that his was not an era of peace and plenty.

102. The interior of the dome, rising over Mumtaz's cenotaph'
has a representation of the Sun drawn in gold. Hindu
warriors trace their origin to the Sun. For an Islamic
mausoleum the Sun is redundant.

103. The Muslim caretakers of the tombs in the Taj Mahal
used to possess a document which they styled as "Tarikh
-i-Taj Mahal." Historian H. G. Keene has branded it as
"a document of doubtful authenticity". Keene was
uncannily right since we have seen that Shahjahan not
being the creator of the Taj Mahal any document which
credits Shahjahan with the Taj Mahal, must be an out-
right forgery. Even that forged document is reported to
have been since smuggled out to Pakistan.

[upsydownyupsy mv ss]

Woaw. I never thought anyone else had read that. :D

[Shanti]

I'd just like to know if anyone else has some insight into this. I find really interesting.

~S

[devotee]

Don't allow yourself to be a victim of canards being spread by some of the (militant) Hindu Organisations which have only one thing in mind ... votes & power ... they are not thinking of the common man.

I don't say that Temples were not destroyed by the Muslims .... it is in their religion. However, why rake up these issues now ? Who are these Muslims of India ? They are none but the Hindus who were for some reasons or the other forced to convert to Islam during the long rule of the Moguls. Moreover, what benefits we Hindus with this animosity and hatred ? Our scriptures and our saints didn't teach us to destroy temples of worship of any religion ... or killing a human being just because he is of some different faith.

Such discussions can only spread the fire of hatred and it is not good for anyone ... niether Hindus nor Muslims.

OM

[PARAM]

------------

Which said that, this thread do not say anything this way, we need to Remember Chatrapati Shivaji, Surajmal, Prithviraj Chauhan, Mihir Bhoj etc? They all fought against Islam, and remembering them, supporting them is important.

Supporting Truth is not Hatred, anti Hindus always hate Hindus, but Hindus need to always know the truth or else anti Hindus will make new fake stories like Aryan Invasion Theory and Hindu word form Islam theory.

[Rationalist]

Don't allow yourself to be a victim of canards being spread by some of the (militant) Hindu Organisations which have only one thing in mind ... votes & power ... they are not thinking of the common man.

I don't say that Temples were not destroyed by the Muslims .... it is in their religion. However, why rake up these issues now ? Who are these Muslims of India ? They are none but the Hindus who were for some reasons or the other forced to convert to Islam during the long rule of the Moguls. Moreover, what benefits we Hindus with this animosity and hatred ? Our scriptures and our saints didn't teach us to destroy temples of worship of any religion ... or killing a human being just because he is of some different faith.

Such discussions can only spread the fire of hatred and it is not good for anyone ... niether Hindus nor Muslims.

OM

So you propose that we sit around and do nothing while our culture and practices are continually subverted by those who rule the world? I guess it makes sense...after all, we Indians have been doing that for 4 millennia, haven't we? So next time someone makes crass remarks about my mutant gods and skin color, or next time some anti-Hindu material is published, influencing disbelief, dissension, and ignorance among the masses, I guess I will sit down and smile while the mlecchas destroy us!

[PARAM]

So you propose that we sit around and do nothing while our culture and practices are continually subverted by those who rule the world? I guess it makes sense...after all, we Indians have been doing that for 4 millennia, haven't we? So next time someone makes crass remarks about my mutant gods and skin color, or next time some anti-Hindu material is published, influencing disbelief, dissension, and ignorance among the masses, I guess I will sit down and smile while the mlecchas destroy us!

We need Another Chatrapati Shivaji, Surajmal, Mihirbhoj, Rajraj Chol, Shashank, but not Jaichand

[Eastern Mind]

I'd just like to know if anyone else has some insight into this. I find really interesting.

~S

Vannakkam Shanti: I am not sure when this debate first started, but I know its been a long time. If you browse the net, there is a massive amount of information, discussion, argument etc. on the topic.

I have no personal insight whatsoever. Then again the Taj would be the last place I would ever visit in India. As a tourist attraction, I believe it is highly overrated. But that's just me, because I'm not the tourist type.

Aum Namasivaya

[Adhvagat]

You know what is funny? I was waiting at the bus station and at the LCD panel showing varieties there suddenly appears the Taj Mahal, I thought: "Oh, ok, they're gonna say that old romantic story about it..." but the legend said: "Taj Mahal was a Shiva Temple". I was surprised! :)

[PARAM]

You know what is funny? I was waiting at the bus station and at the LCD panel showing varieties there suddenly appears the Taj Mahal, I thought: "Oh, ok, they're gonna say that old romantic story about it..." but the legend said: "Taj Mahal was a Shiva Temple". I was surprised! :)

It is true, The Muslim Buildings ane nothing, but corrupted Hindu Monuments.

[goodlife]

You know what is funny? I was waiting at the bus station and at the LCD panel showing varieties there suddenly appears the Taj Mahal, I thought: "Oh, ok, they're gonna say that old romantic story about it..." but the legend said: "Taj Mahal was a Shiva Temple". I was surprised! :)

Hello Pietro

This is a very interesting incident you have shared. could you be more specific where and how this was stated ( not compromising your identity). is it possible if you could make a video of it and post it on youtube? this needs to be mass distributed. a lot of sleeping minds need to be awakened.

just a request.

many thanks

[Shanti]

Vannakkam Shanti: I am not sure when this debate first started, but I know its been a long time. If you browse the net, there is a massive amount of information, discussion, argument etc. on the topic.

I have no personal insight whatsoever. Then again the Taj would be the last place I would ever visit in India. As a tourist attraction, I believe it is highly overrated. But that's just me, because I'm not the tourist type.

Aum Namasivaya

I have tried to google more info, but it's very difficult for me to sift through the facts since I'm not well versed in the history of India, though this is something that I'm trying to be.

There are so many on here that seem to have much more insight and knowledge of these matters than myself.


It is true, The Muslim Buildings ane nothing, but corrupted Hindu Monuments.

Yes, this is another reason I'm so interested in this topic. I think that our history and heritage should be much more open and out there for us to access and should be taught by every school, parent, temple, etc. It's just so hard to get facts easily.

I mean on this very thread there is the idea that this was indeed a Shiva Temple and also the idea that this is propaganda spread by Hindus. Both ideas from Hindus. We need some facts, otherwise we just sound like a bunch of bantering Hindus who know nothing of our own history.

The reason I bumped up this thread is because my mother-in-law was telling me that the Taj Mahal was built from the marble of desecrated Hindu temples. I have no doubt of this, but if it was a Hindu temple temple to begin with then the history of it is different. Not that either one is better, but knowing the facts, our true history is just so important.

How can we pass our knowledge on to the future generations otherwise?

~S

[Adhvagat]

Hello Pietro

This is a very interesting incident you have shared. could you be more specific where and how this was stated ( not compromising your identity). is it possible if you could make a video of it and post it on youtube? this needs to be mass distributed. a lot of sleeping minds need to be awakened.

just a request.

many thanks

It was an internal video feed from the bus station, they show several varieties. One of them was regarding the Taj Mahal, it was a very quick spot with some pictures and the phrase I cited.

[flabber]

this is the most extensive write-up with photos I have come across:

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: The original book on this controversy was published in 1969, over 40 years ago. The reviews on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Taj-Mahal-P-N-Oak/product-reviews/0961161442/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

really tell the story of controversy. Of the 35 reviews, 13 are 5 star, and 11 are 1 star, the lowest. There is only one middle ground reviews. I think that says a lot about how someone reads a book with preconceived notions. The lack of range in reviews also says how this is a controversial topic, with much emotion on both sides.

Aum Namasivaya

[PARAM]

-------------------

For knowledge we need to read History neutrally and not politically votebank corrected, or forced to accept lies.

Even Kaba was a Shiv Temple, neutral discovery have also proven it



this is the most extensive write-up with photos I have come across:

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm

Thank You for this


Vannakkam: The original book on this controversy was published in 1969, over 40 years ago. The reviews on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Taj-Mahal-P-N-Oak/product-reviews/0961161442/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

really tell the story of controversy. Of the 35 reviews, 13 are 5 star, and 11 are 1 star, the lowest. There is only one middle ground reviews. I think that says a lot about how someone reads a book with preconceived notions. The lack of range in reviews also says how this is a controversial topic, with much emotion on both sides.

Anti Hindus are always busy to make wrong comments.

[devotee]

So you propose that we sit around and do nothing while our culture and practices are continually subverted by those who rule the world? I guess it makes sense...after all, we Indians have been doing that for 4 millennia, haven't we? So next time someone makes crass remarks about my mutant gods and skin color, or next time some anti-Hindu material is published, influencing disbelief, dissension, and ignorance among the masses, I guess I will sit down and smile while the mlecchas destroy us!

Wow ! So many people who are pro-hatred-spreading-Campaign-against-Muslims ?

No you didn't get me. My post was not for people who subscribe to views like yours or of the OP. You should not sit down just like that but try to distinguish between rumour and facts. Also, no one is stopping you from taking direct action. If you want to do something like "Ram-mandir/Babri Masjid" type ... please go ahead and do it. Anyone here, who is ready to blow himself up in front of the TajMahal .... no... no... sorry ... Tejo Mahalaya ?? Or these are just empty words ??

There is another fantastic suggestion in this thread that Kaba was a Shiva Temple ! Do you think anyone here is going to stop you from believing that or from sacrificing your life for liberating the great and one of the lodest Shiva Temple ? It would have been very pleasing to Lord Shiva if you could have done it by MahaShivaratri ... but anyway, it is never too late.

Best of luck ! :)

OM

[PARAM]

Wow ! So many people who are pro-hatred-spreading-Campaign-against-Muslims ?

No you didn't get me. My post was not for people who subscribe to views like yours or of the OP. You should not sit down just like that but try to distinguish between rumour and facts. Also, no one is stopping you from taking direct action. If you want to do something like "Ram-mandir/Babri Masjid" type ... please go ahead and do it. Anyone here, who is ready to blow himself up in front of the TajMahal .... no... no... sorry ... Tejo Mahalaya ?? Or these are just empty words ??

There is another fantastic suggestion in this thread that Kaba was a Shiva Temple ! Do you think anyone here is going to stop you from believing that or from sacrificing your life for liberating the great and one of the lodest Shiva Temple ? It would have been very pleasing to Lord Shiva if you could have done it by MahaShivaratri ... but anyway, it is never too late.

Best of luck ! :)

OM

Is that a joke or a challenge ? If you cannot accept truth, so what can we do ? Neither Muslims want to accept truth.
Kaba was a Shiv temple indeed, but the Arabic name is not Kaba it is Baitullah al -Hahram.

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: What is it that makes people think that their point of view is the only correct point of view? I love a particular shimmery turquoise color. In fact, I would say it is my favorite colour. For me to say, "Therefore it is and should be everyone's favorite colour." simply does not make sense.

I have a 3 year old grandchild. He has a sister aged 1. For him, his little sister is "My baby". He has no idea she is a person in her own right. She is also my grandchild, my son's daughter, my daughter-in-law's daughter, a body for a soul to inhabit, a child of God, a cute baby in a restaurant, and much much more, all dependent on who is doing the looking. But to my 3 year old grandson, she is none of the above. She is simply, "My baby". Nothing more, nothing else. Why? It is because he (the grandson) cannot, because of immaturity in brain development, recognise there may be other points of view. His world view is totally egocentric. With time, and some training help by adults around him, it will slowly change. He will evolve into an adult who CAN see that his little sister is something else to other people. So it is easy to excuse him for his behavior.

But I personally have a harder time with adults who cannot grasp this basic (at least I find it basic) concept. What is the reason? There are 6 billion sets of eyes on the planet. Not all of them even have a point of view on what a religious building is. Some will see it as a mark. Some will see it as a hot and dry place. Some will notice the architecture. Others will notice the stone. Some will put no religious significance on it whatsoever. Others will only notice color and shape. Yet others will be drawn to the roads around the place. Still more will see the people involved. Some will think of history. Others may ask to the future. Not everyone views it the very same way.

Yet here we stand, stating a point of view as FACT. Its clearly not (to me). I find it very difficult to have discussions with that mindset. There is no discussion. A Christian says "Christ is the only way, like it or not!" Now what are we to take of that? All I personally can do is relate it back to my 3 year old grandson, and realise that that individual has not yet matured to the point where they can see that others have points of view. That is the only way I can understand it.

Sorry for the rant. :)

Aum Namasivaya

[devotee]

Yet here we stand, stating a point of view as FACT. Its clearly not

Good post, EM ! :)

I was wondering .... why it is named as "Tejo Mahalaya" ?? I don't think there is any temple in India with the name "Mahalaya" as suffix ? The area where Taj Mahal is speaks Awadhi/Hindi ... what does this word mean in Hindi/Awadhi ?

Again, the writer is using extreme extrapolation of logic for drawing conclusions. Anyone who has read Indian history and is aware of exchange of knwoledge of building construction between Mughal artisans and Hindu Indian artisans knows fully well that in many buildings the styles of both traditions together have been used & drawing any conclusion on this basis will be wrong. And it is not wise to distort words to get the word desired as has been done with Mahalaya and Mahal.

Moreover, Shahjahan must be a fool if he could not find a better way to find a name than mutilating the original name of an existing temple. Was there so acute crisis of finding an original name in Arabic ? If that is so, instead of naming Ram Janma Bhoomi as Babari Masjid Babar should have coined this word, "Rahim e Jahaan Masjid" .... some distortion of the original name !!

OM

[PARAM]

-------------
Wise thinking


--------------
It is not important that, all names should bear their ancient name, but most of the names bear the ancient name, including Kaba (Kabalishwar Mandir)

Babri Masjid was not named with original name, because that time Babur's Army used everything in their own way.

Take from their own literature, destroyers of temples themselves claimed it, but they hide Dharma, because Pagan was nothing for them.

[brahman]

Apologies, if, by any means, the thread has diverted from a structured conversation and initiated unwanted articles on fanaticism or if it has worried any members.


http://www.nunook.com/collectibles/TajMahal.png

Let us merit the extensive cultural and monumental heritage these memorials speak. I feel I might just prostrate and experience a sort of serenity around good old Taj, similar to a shrine offering me some incomparable moments to meditate.

These speaking stones just reveal to us many an advent of reigning powers, both flourishing and unsuccessful, and the subsequent amalgamation of various cultures, doctrines, beliefs and philosophy. Here, whichever way I try, I am unable to relate it with any religion. I experience no religious dogmatism here.

Each monument, I observe, is the outcome of either subjugation or a victory, or part of the process of re-establishing one’s supremacy, by invaders of long ago. Or with each invasion, came cultural exchanges within a religion itself. What has the religions of today got to do with it?

All our arguments, study, or research can help us evade a lot of misunderstanding, but can never bring us a complete justification. The ultimate truth will never open before us.

So, what is advisable is to take a monumental approach, acknowledge the monument’s contribution in making our heritage one of the glorious ones in history, and just adore it, than go for an argument through a religious approach.

Love:)

[PARAM]

http://www.nunook.com/collectibles/TajMahal.png



ॐ
हर हर महादेव

[brahman]

Dear Members, Thanks for your valuable comments on this controversial topic.(Five of them have been included in this post)

Comment: 001
“ I am not sure when this debate first started, but I know its been a long time. If you browse the net, there is a massive amount of information, discussion, argument etc. on the topic.”

Comment: 002
“I mean on this very thread there is the idea that this was indeed a Shiva Temple and also the idea that this is propaganda spread by Hindus. Both ideas from Hindus. We need some facts, otherwise we just sound like a bunch of bantering Hindus who know nothing of our own history.”

Comment: 003
“The reason I bumped up this thread is because my mother-in-law was telling me that the Taj Mahal was built from the marble of desecrated Hindu temples. I have no doubt of this, but if it was a Hindu temple temple to begin with then the history of it is different. Not that either one is better, but knowing the facts, our true history is just so important.
How can we pass our knowledge on to the future generations otherwise? “

Comment: 004
“The original book on this controversy was published in 1969, over 40 years ago. The reviews on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Taj-Mahal-P-N-...rBy=addOneStar really tell the story of controversy. Of the 35 reviews, 13 are 5 star, and 11 are 1 star, the lowest. There is only one middle ground reviews. I think that says a lot about how someone reads a book with preconceived notions. The lack of range in reviews also says how this is a controversial topic, with much emotion on both sides.”

Comment: 005
“Again, the writer is using extreme extrapolation of logic for drawing conclusions. Anyone who has read Indian history and is aware of exchange of knwoledge of building construction between Mughal artisans and Hindu Indian artisans knows fully well that in many buildings the styles of both traditions together have been used & drawing any conclusion on this basis will be wrong. And it is not wise to distort words to get the word desired as has been done with Mahalaya and Mahal. “

Some History:
In the year 1556, the great Hindu warrior Hemu Vikramaditya, also known as Samrat Hem Chander Vikramaditya, won Agra as the Prime Minister cum Chief of Army of Adil Shah of the Afghan Sūrī Dynasty. The commander of Humāyūn / Akbar's forces in Agra, Tardi Beg Khan, was so scared of Hemu that he retreated from the city without a fight. This was Hemu's 21st continuous win since 1554, and he later went on to conquer Delhi, having his coronation at Purānā Qil'a in Delhi on 7 October 1556 and re-established the Hindu Kingdom and the Vikramaditya Dynasty in North India.

The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later.

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian architecture and earlier Mughal architecture.

Conclusion: Considering the comments from all of you, I would intuitively conclude this way- this looks more like a fabricated tale. Not even a single member has produced a convincing folklore on either. Its reasonable enough to think Taj being a temple, considering its location on the shore of a holy river. But history teaches us differently. Though Agra is mentioned in epics, it is mostly associated with the Mughal empire and not the Hindu Kings, hence the chances of having big temples in the fashion of tanjore, hampi, puri or the present Taj ,unbelievable.

Thanks a lot

Love:)

[PARAM]

Yes History is differently tought now, Agra have same relations with Mathura
But now even I forgot all about this,. After Agra was made Mughal Capital Hindu monuments where corrupted and all was turned into Islam,

[rajputistan]

Don't allow yourself to be a victim of canards being spread by some of the (militant) Hindu Organisations which have only one thing in mind ... votes & power ... they are not thinking of the common man.

I don't say that Temples were not destroyed by the Muslims .... it is in their religion. However, why rake up these issues now ? Who are these Muslims of India ? They are none but the Hindus who were for some reasons or the other forced to convert to Islam during the long rule of the Moguls. Moreover, what benefits we Hindus with this animosity and hatred ? Our scriptures and our saints didn't teach us to destroy temples of worship of any religion ... or killing a human being just because he is of some different faith.

Such discussions can only spread the fire of hatred and it is not good for anyone ... niether Hindus nor Muslims.

OM

I have to say I totally disagree with you. I doubt if you ever have read Gita before talking about the scriptures. Lord Krishna said that fight against Adharma. Destroying our holy temple and converting it into a tomb is tooo painful, my heart almost start bleeding. If we sit like cowards and we are like those Afghan Buddhists who were sitting quite when there Stupas were destroyed and Sisters-Mothers raped. And finally what happen, they are destroyed. Though only a small minority of Indian Muslims are evil, we have to tackle them like lions and who them who is the real boss and what is the soul of this country. Soul of this country is diving! We respect all religions but we also don't allow something as small as religion to touch our Dharma.

@Hindu Nationalist Organisations. Have you ever been to Sakha of RSS? My Mother's Nana(Nani's Mama), Lakshman Singh Shekawat was in RSS and took a leading role in polity in RSS. There is a short story:
"A Chay wala boy came to him to deliver him tea. He asked do he study? He said no. There were Medical students sitting near him. He asked these students if they can teach that child and make him a doctor. That boy completed 10 and 12th private and then got admission in medical collage and today he is a doctor. He and other RSS leaders have done infinite such deeds. And for you kind information RSS have many Muslims. And do you know they the main force of relief program. And they hate fame. My Mother's Nana was head of Rajasthan RSS, I bet if anybody know him here? This is the live of RSS people, they devote everything to RSS. I have meet many RSS leaders, they are like divine souls.

Hindu Nationalist Parties want to be in power so that the nations go in a right way. Congress became corrupt since the death of Indira Gandhi.

Sorry to say but I really dislike Hindus like you. We have to recognize what we are. 10000 years ago we had well developed citizes when who world except Egypt live in forests. Egyptian civilization ends but we are still alive.

[devotee]

My dear Raj,

I have tried to explain things from my own experience so that you would be able to see what is right and what is wrong. That comes out of love for you. To accept or not accept any advice is upto you.

I don't mind if you hate me. I can expect it seeing your misplaced ideas driven into your mind at this tender age. However, I feel it is my duty to warn you ... otherwise I would be failing in my duties as a senior member of Hindu society towards a young man.

Rhetorics don't take us anywhere but only towards destruction. You think I don't know RSS and its work etc. My dear friend, I was an active member of RSS for quite long time & I know what it is. It is not a bad organisation ... but it is not truly holy too. It has its own role but it can lead to extremist ideas.

Now onwards, I won't react to your posts. So, be happy & enjoy your stay on this forum.

OM

[Sahasranama]

Hindus should be made aware of all the destruction Islam has brought to India, but please use real historical examples and not the conspiracy theories of P.N. Oak.

[amith vikram]

Conclusion: Considering the comments from all of you, I would intuitively conclude this way- this looks more like a fabricated tale. Not even a single member has produced a convincing folklore on either. Its reasonable enough to think Taj being a temple, considering its location on the shore of a holy river. But history teaches us differently. Though Agra is mentioned in epics, it is mostly associated with the Mughal empire and not the Hindu Kings, hence the chances of having big temples in the fashion of tanjore, hampi, puri or the present Taj ,unbelievable.

Thanks a lot

Love:)


please consider these things as well when you conclude:
1) According to a study, the style of architecture of the taj was not seen in any of the islamic architecture before.
2) Inside the taj, it was very similar to a temple.
3) And there are still more evidences
3) Shah jahan had at least 34 spouses.
4) he even married a 3 year old girl!!

This monument is built as a mark of love?
This is a big joke.

[rajputistan]

My dear Raj,

I have tried to explain things from my own experience so that you would be able to see what is right and what is wrong. That comes out of love for you. To accept or not accept any advice is upto you.

I don't mind if you hate me. I can expect it seeing your misplaced ideas driven into your mind at this tender age. However, I feel it is my duty to warn you ... otherwise I would be failing in my duties as a senior member of Hindu society towards a young man.

Rhetorics don't take us anywhere but only towards destruction. You think I don't know RSS and its work etc. My dear friend, I was an active member of RSS for quite long time & I know what it is. It is not a bad organisation ... but it is not truly holy too. It has its own role but it can lead to extremist ideas.

Now onwards, I won't react to your posts. So, be happy & enjoy your stay on this forum.

OM


RSS is holy. And yes, nobody can put anything in my mind, I test the things myself and then believe. There was a time when I had became a atheist but Dharma won me back.
So you mean that you don't care all this thing as it takes our life(deaths):
1. Islamic fundamentalists throw meat peaces(of halal!) on the idols of Maa Durga.
2. They destroyed Somnath temple and made toilet melting idols!:mad:
3. Destroyed Holy Raam temple from Ayodhiya and built a Mosque.
4. Destroyed the Nalanda University. Burned the Books to boil water to bath!
5. Killed innumberalble people.
6. Divided India into many parts. Ask a Hindu Immigrant from Pak. Fortunately I have meet many.
7. Waged uncountable wars. Totally destroyed our Vedic heritage and finally we are excepting stupid westernization.

Devotee I don't think that you regularly visited Sakha. RSS is holy. Only source of hope. It is the only organisation which successfully abolished cast system. And the development we have done in BJP era is awesome!

Why the hell we follow Secularism when our brothers are massacred in this so-called Hindu dominant nation? I think you don't value the rebuilding of a strong Hindu nation.