Probably there is none who has not been duped at least once in a life time. But can the whole world be duped? This may seem impossible. But in the matter of Indian history the world has been duped in many respects for hundreds of years and still continues to be duped.

The world famous Taj Mahal in Agra is a glaring instance. For all the time, money and energy that people the world over spend in visiting the Taj Mahal they are dished out a concoction. Contrary to what visitors are made to believe the Taj Mahal is not an Islamic mausoleum but an ancient Shiva temple known as Tejo Mahalaya which the 5th generation Mogul emperor Shahjahan commandeered from the then Maharaja of Jaipur. Therefore the Taj Mahal must be viewed as a temple-palace complex and not as a tomb. That makes a vast difference. You miss the details of its size, grandeur, majesty and beauty when you take it to be a mere tomb. When told that you are visiting a temple-palace complex you won't fail to notice its annexes, ruined defensive walls, hillocks, moats, cascades, fountains, majestic garden, hundreds of rooms, arcaded verandahs, terraces, multi-storied towers, secret sealed chambers, guest rooms, stables, the trident (trishul) pinnacle on the dome and the sacred, esoteric Hindu letter OM carved on the exterior of the wall of the sanctum sanctorum now occupied by the cenotaphs.

For detailed proof of this breath-taking discovery, you may read the well known book entitled "The Taj Mahal is a Temple Palace". But let us place before you, for the time being an exhaustive summary of the massive evidence ranging Over 103 points, namely:

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 mentioned in Shahjahan's official court chronicle, the Badshahnama.

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 corruption 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. Agreshwar Mahadev i.e. the Lord God of Agra was consecrated in it.

8. The famous Hindu treatise on architecture, titled Viswakarma 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 worshipping 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. Apparently 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 preserved 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 admits (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-ulZamani 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 Shahjahan, 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 immediate repairs to the buildings at his own expense while recommending to the emperor that more elaborate repairs 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) requisitioning 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 remotest 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 identical 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. Contrarily 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. Contrarily 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 representation 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 passage, 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 gemstudded 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. Subsequently 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 disconsolate 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 perpendicular 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 fraudulent 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 itching 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 attributed 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 Shahjahan'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 unknown 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-iMacan", (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. Even 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 Mumtaz 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 Mahal. 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 mentioned as Essa Effendy, a Persian or Turk or Ahmed Mehendis or a Frenchman, Austin de Bordeaux or Geronimo 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, Harshringar 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 graveyard 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.

55. 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. Therefore, 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 Aurangzeb 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 ShahJahan 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 utensils.

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 superintendent 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 confirmation 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 nowhere 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, therefore, 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, incapacitating 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 despoilation 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 nonMuslim was allowed entry into the secret nether chambers 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 Bharatpur 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 inscribe 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 building 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 conceive 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 approved. 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 gateway. 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 fabrication. Shahjahan did not commission even a single building 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 outright forgery. Even that forged document is reported to have been since smuggled out to Pakistan.

The Taj Mahal is only a typical illustration of how all historic buildings and townships from Kashmir to Cape Comorin though of hoary Hindu origin have been ascribed to this or that Muslim ruler or courtier.

It is hoped that people the world over who study Indian history will awaken to this new finding and revise their erstwhile beliefs.

Those interested in an in-depth study of the above and many other revolutionary rebuttals may read this author's other research books.