Re-visiting the Taj Mahal

While there has been a lot of discussion on whether the Taj is actually a Hindu temple, many people have ignored and dismissed anyone who contended such a line of thought.

Recently I have found some interesting information which supports the view that the Taj might have been a Hindu building before it was taken over my Shah Jahan.

http://satyameva-jayate.org/2005/11/07/the-biggest-whitewash-in-indian-history/

Note the comment where the author of the book reviewed puts in his thoughts.

Some experpts from that comment,
"Badshahnama: Persian text of this document was published by Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1867.It was compiled by two Muslim Maulavis. During the British Raj some British officers translated from Persian into English, Babur-nama, Humayun-nama, Akbar-nama and Ain-e-Akabari and Tazuk-e-Jehangiri. Why did their curiosity stop there?
So, why has Badshahnama not been translated into English for 141 years. Even Pakistanis have not dared to do this. How can they? Badshahnama clearly states that Shahjahan grabbed Raja Mansingh’s palace for burial of his wife."

"Unexplained structures and underground chambers: Please make this simpler. There are two huge basements under the Main terrace. These cannot be seen from the garden, but can be seen from the riverside. They were noted by the English painters Thomas and William Daniells in 1789 when they visited Taj Mahal.These are seen in the book of Sleeman in 1844, In Vincent Smith’s book of 1911. And yet NOT ONE historian has questioned the purpose of these? And why are they still blocked today?"

"Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) confesses
We understand that the ASI are under political pressure to keep quiet. But even then they had made a confession. In 1982 they published a booklet called Taj Museum.
On page 4 they say – “ The site selected for the burial was an extremely pleasant and lofty land situated to the south of the city on which till then stood the mansion (Manzil) of Raja Mansingh which was at that time in possession of the latter’s grandson Raja Jaisingh.”
Common sense should tell us that what is being paraded as Taj Mahal today is nothing but Raja Mansingh’s Palace being misused as a tomb of Mumtaz.
Nothing can be clearer.
And who are the authors of this booklet? Dr Zia-uddin Ahmad Desai and H K Kaul
That my friends, is in short, the biggest whitewash in Indian History.
If you want to know more please read my book “Taj Mahal : Simple Analysis of a Great deception”.
My E mail I.D. is v.godbole3@ntlworld.com"


Stephen Knapp in his website gives a copy of the page in the Badshahnama where the Taj is mentioned,
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/badshahnama.htm

"This is supposed to have been written by the emperor's chronicler, the Mullah Abdul Hamid Lahori. It describes the site of the Taj Mahal as being full of majestic and lush gardens just south of the city (Agra). It goes on to say that the palace of Raja Mansingh, which was owned by his grandson Raja Jaisingh, was selected as the place for the burial of the queen Mumtaz. This means, of course, that Shah Jahan never built the Taj Mahal but only acquired it from the previous owner, who was Jaisingh. "

Finally I found a video of a lecture given by renowned archeologist Marvin Mills on the topic, where he concludes that there is enough evidence to question the present belief that Shah jahan built the Taj Mahal and demands that thorough research be done to ascertain the truth.

http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-3379388167850403569&ei=B3spSsTkD4rcrgKM_4SmCg&q=Marvin+Mills+&hl=en