So Called Monument of Love - 693

             So called Monument of Love 

I had a chance to visit the Taj Mahal during my recent sojourn in Delhi . The super Luxury Volvo Coach made the Travel of 4 Hours including the break for the Morning Breakfast at a Dhabha and other arrangements by PANICKER TRAVELS INDIA really special . Their Onboard Travel Guide was both very informative and courteous. 

This Monument in all White on the banks of the Yamuna River is an Architectural Marvel and is worth every second of the 11 Years that went into its making.There can indeed be no two opinions on that .  

But to Call this a Monument of Love is not something which catches my Fancy . 

Mumtaz Mahal was the 3 rd official Wife of the Shah  amongst the Hundreds of EXTRA Fittings that he Maintained at Agra Fort. 

She was a mother to 16 of his children during the 18 Years of their Marriage. She died when she was just 36, the assembly line production of a kid each year took its toll on her health . 

 Astronomical Amount of Money went into the Making of Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort . The Peacock Throne and the Kohinoor on his Crown together with the Gems and Precious Stones that adorned the Taj Mahal and the The Agra Fort which was the seat of the Mughal Empire could have fed the deprived masses for years if not generations . 

Shah Jahan had plans to build a similar Monument but in BLACK this time on the other side of the Yamuna River which was not taken lightly by his  Infamous Son Aurangazeb who had him in Prison . Shah Jahan died a lonely man 36 years after the Death of his lovely Wife in whose memory he had built the Taj Mahal and spent his days watching its image on the mirror in his prison cell due to failing eye sight, 

 However Spectacular ,  “” The Monument  Of Love “” is a misnomer in my opinion .