Let me ask everybody something. In todays scenario, when we come to know that the taxes we pay and the national ex-chequer is being looted by someone in the form of scams and scandals, dont we get very angry. Doesnt it makes our blood boil ? Similarly it is obvious that Taj Mahal was not built by Shah Jahan thru justified means. Most of the Muslim rulers who ruled in India had imposed Jizya, a special tax which was paid only by non-muslims. The mughals were primarrily looters, who eventually settled down in India. Had they brought wealth from Afghanistan and built the Taj Mahal ? It is said by Historians that many artisians's hands were chopped off and many were put to death, so that another Taj Mahal could not be built again. Is this the Symbol of Love ??
It isn't any more surprising that we debate this well into the twenty first century, half a millenium later, even as a billion people languish for a meal. We have failed as mankind, even if we have built the great monuments
It is indeed the sign of times that the rulers have again become more important than the people ! The rulers of the past with few exceptions, have built their wealth and dreams on the miseries of the people.
There is little doubt that the first impression of Taj when you first step over threshold of the entrance inspires awe and wonder. The tour guides delightfully say how the artisans etched their own words and gods in a coded manner. There are many who tell you how Om and 786 are mirror and morphed images of each other.
What can one say of such little talk? What can one say of the miserable political charlatans, the media which carries the chatter and us the audience who lap it up and fight over it ?! That it is a great conspiracy to distract attention from the real issues?
Was my first impression of Taj Mahal. The areas surrounding the Taj Mahal was awful. The touts and fake guides, illegally occupied and constructed shops and houses, filth and garbage everywhere. It was difficult to believe that this is a world monument. The administration over decades have ignored the problems. Successive corrupt governments were only interested in the revenues it was generating, no one was interested to solve the congestion and filth. This kind of treatment for a world monument can only be given in India. Yet, the monument sits over there, inviting and lonely.
Taj Mahal is great, awesome, majestic monument only if indians are also allowed by other countries to build similar great, awesome, majestic monuments of traditional indian architecture in their countries. It will help promote goodwill, friendship, mutual respect, close relationship, brotherhood, cooperation, love and bond between people of different countries which is all so much needed in these times and everyone looks for them at present. It will be a great step towards world peace.
It is not just the external appearance that makes the history. The fact, what was existing there prior to this building, why some portions of the present building is blocked from public, how the structure has our ancient carvings and marks like trishul, music hall, etc which are not common for such structures. Is it a mere tomb with body of the queen or something more precious is buried under it need to be brought out clearly. We know the attitude of those rulers too well to believe them to be genuine builders of artistic monuments for the sake of art.
We have to build monuments for rapes done in India, for looting and plundering of temple wealth , for destruction of temples, for the forced extinction of languages of North India, for the TAX system for practicing one's religious faith-unheard of anywhere in the world,for the massive proselytization that in 1947 India had the biggest Muslim population in the world, for creating a theory that a religion is a Nation ,even if it was given a return favour for their help to the British and for still managing slavedom to invader culture
Re: India
by R ponnabalam on Oct 27, 2017 09:06 PM
The present India is from Kashmir to kanyakumari.Let the slavedom to invader culture ordered be limited to that STANcountry upto the central province or now U.P. which has even lost it's spoken language -hard to find many nations who had lost their mother tongue because of invader rule- and enjoys speaking that Taj Clan's language calling it Hindi.Otherwise we should be out of India R.PONNAMBALAM
