The little known Taj of Bhopal

If you thought that the Taj Mahal is only at Agra in Uttar Pradesh, you would be way of the mark. This is so as there is a palace by that name and though it is as not as well known as its Agra counterpart, this too is a architectural masterpiece.

If the Taj at Agra was built by the Mughal Emperor, Shahajahan, as a resting place for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, this Taj was built as a residence.

Work on the Agra Taj commenced in 1632 and it was completed some twenty years later in 1653. This residence, also called the Taj Mahal, was built over a thirteen year period between 1871 and 1884.

Estimates of the cost involved in the construction of the Taj vary as Shahajahan spared no effort or money in constructing what he wanted to be a fitting memorial to his wife. If the Taj is today among the seven wonders of the world and a UNESCO recognised monument, no such honor is invested on the other Taj, so much so that it is in ruins.

This is the Taj Mahal, a residence built by a Begum in Bhopal. Though it is located besides the Taj-ud-Din mosque, it is among the least visited monuments of  Madhya Pradesh. Coincidentally, the name of the Begum who built this palace was Sultan Shah Shah Jahan, the Begum of Bhopal.

The Taj Mahal at Bhopal was built at a cost of Rs. 30 lakh and when completed it was one of the largest palaces of the world built at the time.

The building was originally named Raj Mahal or the royal palace. The then British Resident of  Bhopal was so impressed with the architecture that he suggested to the Begum that it be renamed the Taj Mahal of Agra.

The Begum, who was the eleventh ruler of Bhopal and reigned between 1868 and 1901, accepted the suggestion and the palace was renamed to Taj Mahal. The Begum ordered a three-year-long celebration called Jashn-e-Taj Mahal after the completion of the building.

After the partition of India in 1947, Nawab Hamidullah Khan allowed Sindhi refugees to stay in the palace. The refugees stayed on in Taj Mahal for four years, before shifting to Bairagarh and it was during this time that it suffered some damage.

Though some members of the royal family of  Bhopal stayed at the palace, they gradually moved away, as they had no money for the repairs. By 2008, large parts of the palace complex had collapsed.

The palace was declared a state heritage monument by the State Government in 2005 and the State Archaeology Department carried out restoration in parts. However, it was denotified in 2011 and the government now plans to transfer the property to the tourism department for its development as a heritage hotel.

What sets aside this building from others of its ilk is that it has British, French, Mughal Arabic and Hindu influences on it.

The palace is built in Indo-Saracenic style and it is huge. It contains 120 rooms- all different from one another in colour scheme and decoration-and eight large halls.

Besides, the palace had a hall of mirrors called sheesh mahal and the savon bhadon pavilion, which is a fountain like structure that simulated the effect of rain. This is 50 feet by fifty feet structure in the courtyard.

The main entrance is a seven-storied structure. The palace was part of a complex of buildings along the three lakes that includes the Benazir palace, which was the begum's summer palace, and the Taj-ul-Masjid mosque, which is one of Asia’s largest mosque.

The entrance dome of the palace was so large that a 12-horse buggy could turn under it with ease. The Begum would alight from the coach here as she observed purdah.

The Taj that was never to be

If Shahjahan, the Mughal Emperor, had his way the Taj Mahal would not have been at Agra in Uttar Pradesh but in another small town in Madhya Pradesh.

This town, which today more known for having lost out as a location of the Taj, is a modern day Necropolis which is surrounded by toms who are dead and gone. However, the town is even today haunted by the loss of what it feels was rightly its.

The place where the Taj Mahal was slated to come up still stands today as it was mote than four centuries ago. The river that flows by seems oblivious to the loss of history. Guides and localities still come to the vast expanse of the land that Shahjahan had chosen to bury his beloved Mumtaz Mahal.

Unfortunately, this place was found to be too far and too remote to bring or rather transport marbles and other construction equipment from Rajasthan. So Shahjahan chose Agra and allowed his beautiful wife, Mumtaz, to be temporarily buried here.

Today, the place where Mumtaz was buried temporarily is in shambles and the road to the monument is, well, barely tolerable. The monument is in no way comparable to the Taj and the only point of interest is that Mumtaz was buried here till her body was shifted to Agra for final burial.

This is the city of Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh. It is s city of tombs and graves and one of the most famous of them is that of Mumtaz Mahal or Anjuman Banu.

Mumtaz had come to Burhanpur for the delivery of her 14th child.   She died after child birth and a grief stuck Shahjahan rushed here and had her temporarily buried in Zainabad Garden here. Six months later she was taken to Agra, then called Dar-ul Khilafat Akbarabad, and reburied in the Taj on the banks of the Yamuna.
The land on which the temporary monument was built in Burhanpur belonged to Raja Jai Singh, the grandson of Raja Man Singh, who was a famed courtier of Emperor Akbar. Jai Singh offered the land, adjacent to the Tapto river, to the Emperor, and was compensated with another piece of land.
Mumtaz had extracted a promise from Shahjahan that he would build a monument of love. Shahjahan then selected the site at Nurhanpur and initially many wooden models for the proposed tomb were prepared and, after much consulting between the Emperor and his designers, the final design was approved.
However, architects and his advisors told Shahjahan that it would almost be impossible to transport marble from Rajasthan to this small town in Madhya Pradesh. Instead they suggested a nearer site for the burial.

Shahjahan then reluctantly settled down on Agra. The Taj then began taking shape in Agra and its construction started in 1632. The main mausoleum was completed by 1643 and work on other buildings in the Taj complex was finished only in 1653.

The French traveller, Tavernier, was one of the few outsiders to see the commencement and the completion of the Taj Mahal.

He says over  20,000 workers, Hindu as well as Muslim, from around India and abroad, worked for years on the building.

When the monument was completed, it had cost the treasury Rs. 41148826 and seven annas, six pies.
Coming back to Burhanpur,  Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 and she was initially buried in the King’s hunting lodge on the other side of the river from Burhanpur.

This building is known as Ahukhana and today it has become the favourite of  couples in love. Shahjahan builta small mausoleum over Mumtaz’s remains even as he ordered work o the Taj at Agra to commence.

Today the  Kabr of grave of Mumtaz Mahal is located eight km away from the small city. A signboard near the building proclaims it to be the burial place of Mumtaz.

The ruins of a masjid, built in her memory, are just across her grave. Locals say that the Emperor came here every Friday, knelt down before the grave and lit a lamp even as Maulvis recited verses from the Koran and Hindu Pandits recited shkolas.

Even today, we can find alcoves around the grave where the lamps were lit. They are known as chiraagdaan.

Burhanpur was an important outpost of the Mughals and Shahjahan constructed the Shahi Quila, a palace.

Though the palace is in ruins, parts still remain. The main attraction is the hamam or the royal bath. It was specifically built forMumtaz Mahal so that she could enjoy a luxurious bath. It is said that she died here after giving birth to her fourteenth child. Even today, the ceiling has many intricate paintings and one of them depict a monument which was the inspiration for the Taj at Agra.

The city has a number of  tombs, including Nizam-ul-mulk, the first of the Asaf Jahi Nizams of Hyderabad and Sawai Jai Singh of Amber. There are also mausoleums of the Farooqui kings, Aadil Shah and Nadir Shah.

One of the most beautiful tombs is that of Bilquis Begum. Locals call it Shah Shuja’s Tomb as he built this tomb for his wife Bilqis Begum. Shah Shuja was one of the several songs of Shahjahan.

Jai Singh, the Rajput Maharaja and a commander of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

Aurangzeb built a small but beautiful memorial on the spot. It is today known as Raja ki Chhatri.

Burhanpur is 340 kms from Bhopal. IT is barely 20 kms from the Maharashtra border.

The Red Taj of Agra

Millions of people visit the Taj Mahal of Agra every year, making it one of the most ticketed monuments in the world. This monument of love draws tourists to itself like a magnet.

However, almost all visitors to Agra who visit the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort barely give a second glance to any of the other ruins of the City.

Many of the visitor are also not aware that apart from the Taj of Shahajan, there is another smaller Taj in Agra. But unlike its big brother, this structure is located right in a cemetery.

By the way, even the cemetery is one of the oldest of its kind in India. It was the Mughal Emperor, Akbar, who gave permission for the cemetery almost five centuries ago.

This is the Roman Catholic Cemetery of Agra and it was permitted to come up in 1550. A majority of the graves here date back to the 16th and 17th centuries and almost all of them belong to European travelers and explorers.             

Surprisingly, the graves are given a Mughal touch and they closely resemble Islamic tombs. One of the most distinguishing and elaborate tombs is the mini Taj here.

This Taj here is built by a woman for her husband. The husband was Colonel John William Hessing, a Dutch soldier and trader. He had come to India from Ceylon (which then was under the Dutch) sometime in the late eighteenth century. He participated in the battle of Kandy in 1765.

He was a native of Utrecht in Holland and was born in 1739.  He served under the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1784 and the Marathas. He later joined the service of  Mahadaji Scindia and accompanied him to Pune in 1792. He fought several battles under the French General Du Boigne.

On Mahadji’s death in 1794, he came to Agra which was held by the Marathas. He was made Commandant of fort and its Maratha garrison in 1799. He died here on July 21, 1803. The fort was captured by British same year.

His tomb is built of red sandstone. Therefore, it is also called the Red Taj.  It has arched doorways and niches. It also has a dome. The carvings are intricately done. There can be mo doubt that it was modeled entirely on the Taj, albeit on a much smaller and less grander scale.

The Taj here has no inlay or mosaic decoration and the ornamentation is exclusively in carving on the exterior. However, the building has perfect balance and symmetry. The only way you can recognise this building as Christian is by the sign of the Cross atop it.

The cenotaph inside has a long inscription about Hessing’s life. The tomb stands on a square platform.

Nearby is another impressive structure. This is an eight side tomb of an Englishman called Francis Ellis. It is constructed of buff sandstone and is eight-sided, with pointed arches on all sides and a dome at the top. Ellis died in 1868.This tomb too is surrounded by the tombs of his family members.

This grave is surrounded by smaller graves belonging to the family members of Ellis. They all died in India and all the family is buried here.

The tomb of General Perron, a French national, which is pyramidal in shape, can be seen north of Hessing’s Taj. Perron was an  adventurer who, like Hessing, made a name for himself in the service of the Scindias. His four children who died in 1793-94 are also buried here.

Perron was a  sailor in the French navy and his earlier name was Pierre Cuillier. He jumped ship, changed his name to Perron and made a name for himself in the service of the Indian rulers. He also built his own army.

There are other interesting graves too. There is the grave of Jerome Veronio, an Italian, who  is believed (wrongly) to have actively participated in designing the Taj Mahal of Shahajan. He died in 1640. You can also see the graves of  the traveller Thieffan Thaler,  the self-styled English Ambassador to the Mughal court, John Midenhall who died in 1614 A.D and Francis Corsi who died in 1635 A.D.

The grave of Hortenzio Bronzoni, an Italian jeweler, who worked on the Great Mogul Diamond  and was fined by the Emperor for damaging the jewel during cutting, is also here.

Another intriguing structure is the tomb of the Tantric Baba, an Armenian national. The tomb has a crucifix carved on it along with the large skull.Since skulls are revered in Tantricism, locals and Tantric followers flock to the tomb and pray to the Baba.

The cemetery has about 80 graves belonging to the Armenians, most of them merchants. They had come to Agra in the mid-1500s at the invitation of Emperor Akbar.

Akbar even permitted the Armenians to set up their own colony in Agra. He even took an Armenian woman as one of his Queens and appointed another as a court doctor.

This is perhaps the oldest Christian cemetery in north India.

Though Agra was a Mughal centre, Christians regarded it as a blessed place and people brought the dead here for burial at this cemetery.

Today, the cemetery is a protected site. It is situated on the eastern extension of the Mahatma Gandhi Road near the Civil Court of Agra. The Taj of Hessings can be seen from the Delhi-Agra road itself.

The Linga that Shiva himself consecrated

Lakhs and lakhs of people come to view the Taj Mahal. After the Taj, they make a hurried visit to the Red Fort before either going back to Delhi where a majority of visitors come from or to other places such as Fathepur Sikri, Mathura, Brindavan and Gokul, all places associated with Krishna.
Last year, more than three million visitors poured into Agra to see the Taj. But only a very small percentage of them, perhaps less than a few thousands, realised that Agra where the Taj is, has a  mythologically important monument that is related to both Krishna and Shiva.

Yes, this monument is in Agra and not in any of the famous places associated with Krishna. This is the famous Mankameshwar Temple, which is one of four ancient temples dedicated to Lord Shiva in the four corners of Agra City.

The importance of the temples is derived from the fact that the Linga was consecrated by Shiva himself. What more do you want in a temple where the deity is consecrated by the God himself.

The Mankameshwar temple is situated at Rawatpara, near the Jama Masjid and it is just two and half kms away from the Taj and less than a kilometre from the Agra Fort.

The temple is easy to locate as it is surrounded by many of Agra’s old markets.

There is a beautiful story about how the temple came to be built. Krishna had decided to take birth in Dwapara Yuga in Mathura, which is near Agra. When Krishna made this decision known to Gods, Shiva wanted to see Krishna as a child.

He therefore, came down from Mount Kailash. He decided to rest at a cremation ground near Yamuna river. He rested and meditated here.

Shiva was contemplating the pleasure he would derive in seeing the young Krishna play with him and sit on his lap. He though he would install a Linga if his desire came true.

Suddenly Yashoda arrived at the place and spotted Krishna. She felt that Krishna would be scared if she saw the ash colored Shiva with a serpent around his neck and a Trishul in his hand.

Krishna heard the entire conservation. But he realised it would be difficult to get Yashoda to allow him near Shiva. So he hot upon the oldest trick that a child plays before its mother and the mother invariably falls for it.

Krishna pointed to Shiva and started crying. Meanwhile, a disappointed Shiva was sitting under a Banyan tree and meditating. Yashoda called Shiva and asked him to bless Krishna.

Shiva took Krishna in his arm, blessed him and left the place a happy God. But he did not forget his promise. He consecrated a linga at the precise spot where he had lifted the infant Krishna. This is the Mankameshwar Temple.

Shiva then said people visiting his Linga here would be blessed and all their wishes would be fulfilled.

The linga here is covered with silver.

Only people wearing traditional dress are allowed here. This is a peculiarity here as in north India, the dress code is not rigorously enforced. Therefore, no pants, leather jackets and dress, salwar Kameez here.     

You cannot miss the temple. It is surrounded by a very busy shopping hubs with grocery, cosmetic market, shoe, jewellery and Indian sweet markets. There area around the temple is known for a special pan which you get at Mankameshwar locality.

The pan  is folded in the shape of a pyramid. The pan is then coated with "chandi ki Barak" (Silver foil) and garnished with coconut powder.

Visit the temple and eat the pan. Both have their own devotees. 

The other three Shiva temples in Agar are Kailash Mandir, Balkeshwar Mandir and Prithvinath Mandir.

The Balkeshwar and Kailash temples are located besides the Yamuna. The Kailash temple is situated nearteh Sikandra side of Yamuna. The Prithvinath temple is in Shahganj, on the road to Jaipur.

The annual “parikrama” (circumnavigation) of all the four Shiva temples is a well-documented event in the history of Agra. The route totally covers 50 kms.

So the next time you visit the Taj, make sure to take time off to see the Linga and pray for your desire to come true. Of course, do not forget the pan. You will not get it anywhere else.