Introduction (by me)
(I have used an English word in this article, which doesn't have an entry in the dictionary. However, I liked it and thought that it pretty much conveys the meaning. So I kept it. Could have avoided it, but chose not to)

What do we already know about Taj Mahal?

1. That: the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan got it built in the memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.

2. That: it took 22 years to construct (1631 to 1653).

3. That: about 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world accomplished the task.

4. That: Ustad Isa of Iran was the chief architecture.

In fact, we have also heard stories like how brutally Ustad Isa and his staffs' fingers were chopped off after completion of the Taj's construction, so that they can't design another such glorious edifice.

This is what your guide probably told you if you ever visited this wonder of the world. This is the same story we all read in my history book as a student. And this is more or less what the whole world knows.

All these "facts" are now challenged by a man.......

Prof. P.N. Oak was born in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in which his father talked to him only in Sanskrit, mother only in English, relations in Marathi and town-folk in Hindi. That gave him fluency in these four languages from childhood. [I took these facts from a webpage of Indiainfo.com but can't find the exact url now. My apologies]

He has made some far-reaching discoveries in history. Many of them are pretty controversial. Refutals to his claims are also as much well documented as his claims. I searched a bit on the Net about him and his work and found many webpages on his works and claims. The google count was 155,000. I selected some (12/13) pages and went through them.

Oak is the founder & president of the Institute for Rewriting World History. His latest finding is that in pre-Christian times Vedic culture and Sanskrit language held full sway throughout the world. Oak is keen to find a World Vedic Heritage University to educate the world in the primordial Vedic unity of all humanity. To that end he invites correspondence from all those willing to help.

Well, after having done a short research on this guy and reading some of his claims and their corresponding refutals published pretty neatly in many web pages, I personally feel that there are some valid arguments on both the sides. However, there isn't any doubt that Prof. Oak is too much obsessed with Vedic religion and philosophy and hence can't be taken at face value, however logical and evidential his arguments may sound.

However, his arguments and evidences (especially about the Taj Mahal) are noteworthy. I'm definitely not asking you to jump into any definitive conclusion at all, but do read this and take a note. This may well be the truth. You never know.

Two brief notes from me before we start:
1. I, myself, in my minutest manner and with my miniscule capability, have done some study of Vedic philosophy and found them subtly similar, in terms of spirituality, with MODERN PHYSICS. And being a student of science, I do have this conviction that among all the religion, Vedic philosophy is perhaps the closest to realizing the true nature of God.

2. Almost all Indians are familiar with the word, "Alaya". It's a Sanskrit word meaning ABODE. "Himalaya" (Him+Alaya), meaning the abode of snow, and "Meghalaya" (Megh+Alaya), meaning the abode of cloud, are words derived from "Alaya" in combination with other words. Similarly "Mahalaya" is a purely Sanskrit word meaning the abode of Maha, and "Maha" means the GREAT, that is, Lord Shiva. It is not at all unlikely that the word "Mahal" has evolved from the word, "Mahalaya".


The Article (lightly edited by me)

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Now let's read the article below and find out what P.N. Oak has to say:

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No one has ever challenged it except Prof. P.N. Oak, who believes the whole world has been duped. In his book Taj Mahal: The True Story, Oak says, the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz's tomb but an ancient Hindu temple, a 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 the 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 royal figures 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. First, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani; second, one wouldn't omit the first three letters "Mum" from a woman's name to derive the remainder as the name for a building.

[Here, I also note: Mumtaz is pronounced with a 'z' sound at the end, but Taj is pronounced with a distinct 'j' sound. These two sounds are clearly different in Islamic languages].

Hence, Taj Mahal, Oak claims, is a modified 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 the court of 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 that the Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan's era.

For example, Prof. Marvin Miller of New York took a few samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan's era. European traveler Johan Albert Mandelslo, who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life & palaces in the city of Agra in his memoirs. But he made 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 suggested that the Taj was a noteworthy building. However, he too didn't mention anything that may seem like the Taj was under construction. In fact, his documentary suggested that the Taj might well be in existence already.

Prof. 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. Oak assertively claims that these sealed rooms contain a headless statue of Lord Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples. Somehow Shah Jahan could destroy them and hence permanently sealed them.

Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government successfully tried to have Prof. Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the dire consequences such a book might give rise to.

However, Prof. Oak's claims are also not foolproof. 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.

In my next few emails, I'll provide some of the evidences Oak has put forward.

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You can share this challenge of Prof. Oak with as many as you want. However, I would personally request you to chose the right persons. Some people have the tendency to start believing sensational claims pretty strongly, while others discard them outright. Both are wrong approaches to anything new...ANYTHING. It's better to keep an open mind and wait & THINK.

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Best Regards to All
Samik Roy Choudhury