Tejo Mahalaya - The original Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal is one of the 7 wonders of the world. In 1621 Emperor Shah Jahan is supposed to have built it in memory for his wife Mumtaz. Not according to Prof. P. N. Oak who believes the whole world has been duped.

Prof. Oak points out there is evidence that the Taj Mahal was never built by Shah Jahan. Some say the Taj Mahal pre-dates Shah Jahan by several centuries and was originally built as a Hindu or Vedic temple/palace complex.

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 to the public. Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Lord Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples.

In his book Taj Mahal: The True Story, Oak says the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz‘s tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known asTejo Mahalaya). In the course of his research Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace was usurped by Shah Jahan from 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 royalty 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 Afghanisthan to Algeria. “The unusual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal was illogical in atleast two respects.

Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani,’ he writes. ‘Secondly, one cannot omit the first three letters from a woman’s name to derive the remainder as the name for the building.‘

Taj Mahal is, he claims, a corrupt version of Tejo-mahalaya, or the Shiva’s Palace. Oak also says that the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale created by court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists. Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan’s time corroborates the love story.

Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi’s government tried to have Prof. Oak’s book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition dire consequences. 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. Do circulate this to all you know and let them know about this reality .

Here’s the Whole Research and Proofs Stating that Taj Mahal was Actually Tejo Mahalya, a Shiv Temple:

Pre-Shahjahan References to the taj

Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting the Taj Mahal PREDATES Shah Jahan’s era, and was a temple dedicated to Shiva, worshipped by Rajputs of Agra city. For example, Prof. Marvin Miller of New York took a few samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan….!

A letter by Aurungzeb

Furthermore, Since the doors of the Tejo Mahalya were broken open by Muslim invaders repeatedly from the 11th century onwards, for plunder and ravage, had to be replaced from time to time. Thus, the Tejo Mahalya is much older than many of its doors. Infact, a report published by Evan Williams, Professor of Chemistry, and Brooklyn College, New York, says that a wood piece from the door at North East end of the Taj Mahal has an age between 1448 to 1270 A.D…!

Adding to this, European traveler Johan Albert Mandelslo, who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz’s death), describes the life of the city in his memoirs. But he makes NO REFERENCE to the Taj Mahal being built by Shah Jahan for Mumtaz’s Burial.

The writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a year of Mumtaz’s death, also suggest the Taj was a noteworthy building WELL BEFORE SHAH JAHAN’S TIME.

Aurangzeb wrote a letter ordering repairs in 1652, but the Taj was supposed to be built by the end of 1653. The logic of this is that Mumtaz was supposed to have died around 1631, and it is said that it took 22 years to build the Taj. However, in the letter, Aurangzeb had asked immediate repairs at his expenses. Incase Taj was a new building, there would have no need for any such repairs.

Taj Mahal’s Blue Prints

Basic blueprint of the Taj Mahal that shows stairways to upper and lower floors. Also showing 8 rooms surrounding the cenotaph chamber, 4 octagonal and 4 rectangular.

Blue print of the Taj Mahal showing cross-section of Central Edifice in a book by J Fergusson in 1855

The blue print plan of the Taj Mahal showing stairways that go down to the 22 basement rooms. This plan of the location of 22 basement rooms was discovered in 1902. I (V. S. Godbole) was able to visit them in December 1981 by prior permission. Survey plan of Taj Mahal by Col Hodgson, 1825. Note the platform on the north side running from N/W to N/E tower and steps at two places from this platform to go to the river: a sure sign of planning for residential activity, not what you would need for a vacant mausoleum.

Frontal View

A frontal view of the Taj Mahal alias Tejo Mahalaya in Agra. It is octagonal because the Hindus believe in 10 directions. The pinnacle pointing to the heaven and the foundation to the nether world, plus the eight surface directions make the 10 directions. Divinity and royalty are believed to hold sway in all those 10 directions. Hence in Hindu tradition, buildings connected with royalty and divinity must have some octagonal features or the buildings themselves should be octagonal. The two flanking cupolas (two others to the rear are not seen in this photo) are also identical.
The towers at the four plinth corners served as watch towers during the day, and to hold lights at night. Hindu wedding altars and Satyanarayan worship altars invariably have such towers at corners. [Many other Hindu temples, such as those at Khajurao, also can be found to have four towers or temples, one at each corner of the temple foundation.]

The lotus flower cap on the head of the dome is a Hindu feature. Muslim domes are bald. This marble edifice has four stories. Inside the dome is an 83 ft. high hall. The Taj has a double dome. The dome one sees from inside ends like an inverted pan on the terrace. The dome seen from outside is a cover on the inner dome. Therefore, in between them is an 83 ft. hall. This may be considered as one storey. Underneath may be seen the first storey arches and the ground floor rooms. In the basement, visitors are shown one room. All these constitute the four storeys in the marble edifice. Below the marble structure are two stories in red stone reaching down to the river level. The 7th storey must be below the river level because every ancient Hindu historic building did have a basement. Thus, the Taj is a seven-storied structure.

22 Rooms

This is a riverside view of the Taj Mahal. The four storied marble structure above has under it these two stories reaching down to the river level. The 22 rooms shown in other photos are behind that line of arches seen in the middle. Each arch is flanked by Hindu lotus discs in white marble. Just above the ground level is the plinth. In the left corner of the plinth is a doorway indicating inside the plinth are many rooms sealed by Shahjahan. One could step out to the river bank from the door at the left. The 7th storey is surmised to be under the plinth below the ground because every ancient Hindu mansion had a basement. Excavation to reach the basement chamber should start under this door.
Most people content to see Mumtaz’s grave inside the Taj fail to go to the rear riverside. This is the riverside view. From here one may notice that the four-storied marble structure on top has below it two more stories in red stone. Note the window aperture in the arch at the left. That indicates that there are rooms inside. Inside the row of arches in the upper part of the wall are 22 rooms. In addition to the four stories in marble, this one shows red stone arches in the 5th storey. The 6th storey lies in the plinth in the lower portion of the photo. In another photo a doorway would be seen in the left corner of the plinth, indicating the presence of apartments inside, from where one could emerge on the river for a bath. This is the massive octagonal well with palatial apartments along its seven stories. A royal staircase descends right down to the water level indicated by the tiny white patch showing the sun’s reflection.

This was the traditional treasury well of the Hindu temple palace. Treasure chests used to be stacked in the lower stories. Accountants, cashiers and treasurers sat in the upper stories. Cheques called handies used to be issued from here. On being besieged, if the building had to be surrendered to the enemy, the treasure used to be pushed into the water for salvage later after recapture. For real research, water should be pumped out of this well to reveal the evidence that lies at the bottom. This well is inside a tower near the so-called mosque to the west of the marble Taj. Had the Taj been a mausoleum this octagonal multistoried well would have been superfluous.

Architectural Evidence

The Ancient Hindu Chandi Shiva Temple in Java (Prambanan temple)

Angkor Wat, Combodia

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 Shiva Temple in Java and Hindu Temple Angkor Wat of Combodia are identical with that of the Taj.

A central dome with octagonal cupolas at its four corners is a common feature of Hindu temples. The four marble pillars at the plinth corners are of the Hindu style. They were used as lamp–towers during the night and as watchtowers during the day. Such towers serve to demarcate the holy precincts. Hindu wedding altars and the altar set up for God Satyanarayan worship has pillars raised at their Four Corners. Even Hindu marriage mandaps are so.

Mumtaj Death

Burhanpur is a very ancient historic city on the Central Railway between Khandwa and Bhusawal junctions. Burhanpur and the nearby Asirgarh (fort) used to provide hospitality to Hindu royals proceeding north or south on pilgrimage, weddings or military expeditions. Barhanpur has many magnificent mansions which are currently being described as mosques and tombs of alien Islamic invaders. This building is one such ancient Hindu royal palace captured by the Moghuls.

Mumtaz died here during her 14th delivery around 1630 A.D. while she and Shahjahan were camping here.

She is said to be buried in a Hindu pavilion in front of this palace. Mumtaz is supposed to be buried in this garden pavilion of the ancient Hindu palace (Ahu Mahal) 600 miles from Agra, in Burhanpur. Another version says that Mumtaz’s corpse was kept here exposed to sun, rain, and wild beasts for six months. The date of her death, the date of her removal from Burhanpur to Agra, and the date of her assumed burial in the Taj Mahal are all unknown because the entire Taj Mahal-Mumtaz legend is a concoction from the beginning to end. [Mumtaz was only one of several hundred wives and women that Shahjahan kept in his harem.]

The Riverside

An early photo of Taj from the riverside clearly showing 2 levels of hidden basements. Vincent Smith published this photo in his book “History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon”, in 1911. The earliest we find such photo was in 1844 in Sleeman’s book – “Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official”. And yet no historian has ever been curious to go inside these basements.

Lotus And corridors

These corridors at the approach of the Taj Mahal are typically Hindu. They may be seen in any ancient Hindu capital. Note the two octagonal tower cupolas at the right and left top. Only Hindus have special names for the eight directions and celestial guards assigned to each. Any octagonal feature in historic buildings should convince the visitor of their Hindu origin. Guards, palanquin bearers and other attendants resided in hundreds of rooms along numerous such corridors when the Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple palace. Thus the Taj was more magnificent and majestic before it was reduced to a sombre Islamic cemetery.

The apex of the lofty entrance arch on all four sides of the Taj Mahal bears this red lotus and white trident–indicating that the building originated as a Hindu temple. The Koranic lettering forming the middle strip was grafted after Shahjahan seized the building from Jaipur state’s Hindu ruler.

OM Symbol

This is the Dhatura flower essential for Hindu Shiva worship. The flower is depicted in the shape of the sacred, esoteric Hindu incantation ‘OM.’ Embossed designs of this blooming ‘OM’ are drawn over the exterior of the octagonal central sanctorum of Shiva where now a fake grave in Mumtaz’s has been planted. While perambulating around the central chamber one may see such ‘OM’ designs.

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 / Rest house/ Nakkar khana (drum house) 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…!

In Reality, these two buildings were two Nakkar Khanas alias drum houses 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. Music Is Against Islam.

Secret Brick

One of the 22 riverside rooms in a secret storey of the Taj Mahal, unknown to the public. Shahjahan, far from building the shining marble Taj, wantonly disfigured it. Here he has crudely walled up a doorway. Such imperial Mogul vandalism lies hidden from the public. This room is in the red stone storey immediately below the marble platform. Indian history has been turned topsy turvy in lauding destroyers as great builders. Many such doorways of chambers in secret stories underneath the Taj Mahal have been sealed with brick and lime. Concealed inside could be valuable evidence such as Sanskrit inscriptions, Hindu idols, the original Hindu model of the Taj, the desecrated Shiva Linga, Hindu scriptures and temple equipment. Besides such sealed chambers there are many which are kept locked by the Government. The Public must raise its voice to have these opened or it should institute legal proceedings. Shree P. N. Sharma of Green Park, New Delhi who peeped through an aperture in these chambers in 1934 A.D. saw a pillared hall with images carved on the pillars.

Many such doorways of chambers in secret stories underneath the Taj Mahal have been sealed with brick and lime. Concealed inside could be valuable evidence such as Sanskrit inscriptions, Hindu idols, the original Hin

du model of the Taj, the desecrated Shiva Linga, Hindu scriptures and temple equipment. Besides such sealed chambers there are many which are kept locked by the Government. The Public must raise its voice to have these opened or it should institute legal proceedings. Shree P. N. Sharma of Green Park, New Delhi who peeped through an aperture in these chambers in 1934 A.D. saw a pillared hall with images carved on the pillars.

A huge ventilator of one of the 22 rooms in a secret storey of the Taj, is seen here crudely sealed with unplastered bricks by Shahjahan. The ventilator at the left, meant for air and light from the riverside, has been crudely walled up by Shahjahan. He did not bother even to plaster them. Had Shahjahan built the Taj as a mausoleum what was the purpose of the 22 rooms? And why are they kept locked and hidden from the public?
Such are the rooms on the 1st floor of the marble structure of the Taj Mahal. The two staircases leading to this upper floor are kept locked and barred since Shahjahan’s time. The floor and the marble walls of such upper floor rooms can be seen in the picture to have been stripped of its marble panels. Shahjahan used that uprooted marble from the upper floor for constructing graves and engraving the Koran because he did not know wherefrom to procure marble matching the splendour of the rest of the Taj Mahal. He was also so stingy as not to want to spend much even on converting a robbed Hindu temple into an Islamic mausoleum.

One of the 22 locked rooms in the secret storey beneath the marble platform of the Taj Mahal. Strips of ancient Hindu paint are seen on the wall flanking the doorway. History has been so perverted and inverted that alien Muslims like Shahjahan who spoiled, damaged, desecrated and destroyed historic Hindu buildings, are being falsely paraded as great builders.

Such are the magnificent marble-paved, shining, cool, white bright rooms of the Taj Mahal temple palace’s marble ground floor. Even the lower third portion of the walls is covered with magnificent marble mosaic. The doorway at the left looks suspiciously closed with a stone slab. One can perambulate through these rooms around the central octagonal sanctorum, now occupied by Mumtaz’s fake grave. The aperture, seen through of the central door, enabled perambulating devotees to keep their eyes fixed on the Shiva Linga in the central chamber. Hindu Shiva Lingas are consecrated in two chambers, one above the other. Therefore, Shahjahan had to raise two graves in the name of Mumtaz–one in the marble basement and the other on the ground floor to desecrate and hide both the Shiva emblems from public view. [The famous Shiva temple in Ujjain also has an underground chamber for one of its Shiva-lingams.]