Is't TajMahal or TajMahol?

Don't know how far it is true, but it's really interesting.......
If u have patience read the following.

The Taj Mahal was built by the mogul emperor Shah Jahan in the memoryof his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world. Many peoplebelieve it was designed by Ustad Isa of Iran.

This is what your guide probably told you if you ever visited the TajMahal in India. This is the story I read in my history book as astudent in India. No one has ever challenged it except Professor P.N. Oak,who believes the whole world has been duped.

In his book Tajmahol: The True Story, Oak says the Taj Mahal is notQueen Mumtaj Mahal's tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva(then known as Tejo Mahalaya).

In the course of his research, Oak discovered the Shiva temple palacewas usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. ShahJahan then remodelled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own courtchronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionallybeautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's burial.The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur still retains in his secret collection twoorders from Shah Jahan for surrendering the Taj building.

Using captured temples and mansions as a burial place for deadcourtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers. For example.Hamayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in suchmansions.

Oak's inquiries begin with the name Taj Mahal. He says this term doesnot occur in any Mogul court papers or chronicles, even after ShahJahan's time.

The term "mahal" has never been used for a building in any of theMuslim countries, from Afghanistan to Algeria.

"The unusual explanation of the term Taj Mahal derives trom MumtajMahal is illogical in at least two respects. Firstly, her name was neverMumtaj Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani," he writes. "Secondly, one cannot omitthe first three letters 'Mum' from a woman's name to derive the remainderas the name for the building."

Taj Mahal, he claims, is a corrupt version of Tejo-mahalaya, or theShiva's Palace.

Oak also says the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy talecreated court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppyarcheologists.

Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's time corroborates thelove story.

Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting the Taj Mahalpredates Shah Jahan's era, and was a temple palace dedicated to Shivaworshipped by the Rajputs of Agra city.

For example, Professor Marvin Miller of New York took a few samplesfrom the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating tests revealed thatthe door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan.

European traveller Johan Albert Mandelslo, who visited Agra in 1638(only seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the city inhis memoirs. But he makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built.The writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a yearof Mumtaz's death, also suggest the Taj was a noteworthy building longwell before Shah Jahan's time.

Oak points out a number of design and architectural inconsistenciesthat support the belief of the Taj Mahal being a typical Hindu templerather than a mausoleum.

Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan'stime, and are still inaccessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain aheadless statue of Shiva and other objects commonly used for worshiprituals in Hindu temples.

Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government tried to haveOak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indianpublisher of the first edition with dire consequences.

There is only one way to discredit or validate Oak's research. Thecurrent Indian government should open the sealed rooms of Taj Mahal under UNsupervision, and let international experts investigate.

Feel proud being an Indian...

Feel proud of being an INDIAN,... And Thank GOD for giving that small KID, a NEWlife,...

I am reproducing below an article that appeared in yesterday'sissue of "Annanagar Times" - a weekly published for the neighborhoodof Annanagar. This article features the lifesaving operation performedby Indian doctors on a Pakistani girl.

Any sensible Pakistani should feel ashamed at what Indian doctors havedone in return to the barbarious acts that Pakistanis are currentlyindulging in. Please pass on this message to as many people as youcan.

This would help counter the Pakistani propaganda to some extent.

Guns boom, but Mogappair doctors save life of young Pakistani girl

Even while Indian and Pakistani soldiers were killing each other in theKargil war, a team of Indian doctors in Madras Medical Mission inMogappair (Chennai, India) successfully strived for hours on June 28 tocorrect a congenital heart abnormality of a 6-year-old Pakistani girlwho had otherwise been given just 3 months to live..

Mohammed Asif and Uzma, parents of Sadia who are residents of Karachi,told Annanagar Times that Sadia had been a blue baby since birth due toa congenital heart problem. When she was just 7 months old, anoperation had been performed at the National Institute ofCardiovascular Diseases (Jinnah Hospital) in Karachi. But the relieffrom fits, chest pain and other problems was only temporary.

A couple of months back, Sadia's health suffered a setback. Herparents went to Dr.Mehmaz Atiq of the Aga Khan University, Karachi, whotoldthem that the cost of operation and treatment may cost Rs. 12 lakhs inKarachi but success could not be assured. He advised them that theirbest hope was to come to Madras Medical Mission Hospital in Chennai.

The Kargil war intervened, but Sadia could not wait till its resolutionbecause she had otherwise been given only three months to live.

After an initial hassle regarding visa, the family was able to come toChennai on June 20, and the operation was performed successfully onJune 28.

A heart valve and blood vessel were transplanted from the body of agirl who had just then died at Royapettah hospital( inchennai). The cost of the operation was Rs. 2.35 lakhs.

Dr. K.M.Cherian (Director, MMM) who performed the operation said thatSadia's heart had two outlets arising from a single pump and there wasa big shelf of musclebelow the artery carrying blood to the lungs, andthis was causing obstruction to the outflow. There was also a largehole in the heart. All these abnormalities have been surgicallycorrected, and Sadia will soon be ready for school and normal routine,Dr. Cherian added.

Sadia's father, who is a Manager in an export company, had been told bysome of his friends in Pakistan that India is an enemy country and hewill face hostility from the people here.

But the love and affection showered on them by those whom he cameacross here had proved their friends wrong, Uzma said.

Asif said that they actually received more help in Chennai than inKarachi. "I am not only talking about the quality of treatment in MMMalone, but also the help from the general public. I realize that all theproblems between the two countries are created only by politicians", headded.

12 students of Sethu Bhaskara Higher Secondary School, Ambatturcollected and donated Rs. 5,000 to Saida. The students said that they hadmade the donation to convey the love and affection of Indian children toaPakistani child despite the Kargil war. They also gave her toys andflowers.

So Sedia will soon go back to Pakistan from the 'enemy country' withvery fond memories of the love and affection she received here. Andher parents will forever be thankful to the Indian doctors who hadperformed the miracle of saving their daughter's life.