Black Taj Mahal
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
22 December
2023
"The
temple (Ram Mandir) is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 18,000
crores. But it has a hidden cost too, which is being borne by a number of
traders in the city. As part of the road expansion project around the temple
complex, several key trade routes, including the 13 km long Ram Path
(Sahadatganj to Nayaghat), the 800 metres-long Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Path
(Sugriv Quila Marg to Ram Janmabhoomi), and the 800 metres-long Bhakti Path
(Shringar Haat to Ram Janmabhoomi), are being widened. This means that the
shops of many merchants are being demolished, leaving them without a livelihood"
(Yaqut Ali, The Wire).
The Shri
Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust has spent Rs 900 crore on the construction
of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya between February 5, 2020 and March 31 this year,
and still possesses Rs 3,000 crore in bank accounts, trust officials said on
Saturday (Courtesy, DH, last updated, October 7, 2023)
Representative Image
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Have you
read about Shah Jahan's Black Taj Mahal? Well, it's not apocryphal. Mughal
historian Khafi Khan (or Khwafi Khan), Sultan Mahmood and modern Indian
historian Ishwari Prasad Upadhyay (1888-1986) have written with proofs and
documentary evidence that after the completion of Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan wanted
to build a replica of Taj in black marble across Yamuna. Aurangzeb stopped his
father's grandiose plan and asked him (Shahjahan) in a letter, "Are you a
lunatic? You already emptied the exchequer in building white Taj and now you
want to build a Black Taj! How can you be so oblivious of the condition of your
subjects?" The scathing missive in Persian is quite long. I've just given
the translations of a few opening lines.
Aurangzeb
asked his father whether he was a lunatic as he wasted a humungous sum of money
on building Taj and was still not satisfied and wanted to build a replica of
White Taj (in Black). But who'll put the same question before a megalomaniac
leader and his political dispensation?
Taj has
become a symbol of capitalism (Alamat-e-Sarmayadari) and made Sahir
Ludhianvi write, "Ek Shahanshah Ne Daulat Ka Sahara Le Kar/ Hum Ghareebon
Ki Muhabbat Ka Udaya Hai Mazaaq" (Thanks to extreme affluence/ An
emperor made fun of the love of poor people).
Here, a
modern 'emperor' is exploiting the extreme religiosity of his Hindu subjects.
When there's a woeful scarcity of jobs, people are reeling under skyrocketing
prices of all commodities and the future looks increasingly bleak, wasting so
much on a grand shrine for mythical characters who never existed, sounds outright
bizarre.
This huge
amount could have been utilized in innumerable welfare schemes. But the
government wants to construct a temple and the asinine Hindus, whose brains
have slipped down to their bottoms, are also euphoric. This is sheer madness.
How'll a Ram Mandir help ameliorate the dismal fate of a majority of people?
Will Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman give them Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan?
People are
also to be condemned for their blind and bovine religiosity. Mark my words, the
way Islam has destroyed neighbouring Pakistan, this adulterated Hinduism will
devour India in the next quarter of a century. Religiously stupid people
deserve correspondingly clever and cunning political leaders to be governed
like a flock of sheep.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/black-taj-mahal/d/131359
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