The Monument of Doubt

I have always wondered how much of what we are told, by various people and by various books is actually true? Time and again, it has happened that major facts that the world had blindly accepted to be true, turned out to be myths or figments of someone’s imagination. Or perhaps, the breaking of the myth, ‘the true story’ is someone’s imagination.
I recently visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, around two months back. It is amazing how one architectural structure can signify the same thing to thousands of people all over the globe. Visit the Taj any time of the day, any time of the year and you are sure to find a couple posing cheesily with the Taj in the back ground. Or a favourite among tourists is juxtaposing the Taj in such a way that it looks as if the person is a giant touching the tip of the Taj. Tourists visiting the Taj can almost form a sub culture of sorts!



Coming back to myths and hoaxes, I am sure all of you have heard the story of how after the construction was completed after 22 years of hard labour, Emperor Shah Jahan got the hands of the workers amputated so that a replica of his testament of love could never be remade. Well, according to the our guide, who showed us around Taj Mahal sharing interesting stories (don’t know if all were true) this is nothing but a widespread lie. He also spoke of a replica of the Taj Mahal, which was to be built in black marble right opposite the white one. He claimed that Aurangzeb was opposed to the idea of wasting so much money on monuments. He wanted to utilize it for upgrading the defence forces. It was this difference in opinion that lead to Aurangzeb murdering his siblings and imprisoning his own father. It is strange, then, how Aurangzeb , a few years after the completion of Taj Mahal, built the replica called Bibi-Ka-Maqbara at Aurangabaad. What is the truth and how do we ever check the authenticity of such historical claims?
To add to it, there is a new book selling like hot pancakes, called ‘Taj Mahal: The true story’ which claims that the Taj Mahal is far from being Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb. It is actually an ancient Vedic Shiva temple called the Tejomahalay. The book claims that there is no record of a Taj Mahal ever being built in any Mughal court documents and that there is a record, however, of the capture of a white Shiva temple at the site where the Taj Mahal is located. The book is compilation of evidences, some coincidental, some simply hilarious and others really astonishing.
So what is the truth? What do you want to believe? You decide.