Sir: The Taj Mahal of Agra is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This magnificent building is a symbol of love. However, looking into history, one gets a little confused and even amused.
The Taj Mahal is said to have been built after the death of Mumtaz Mahal, wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Supposedly, the pangs of love that Shah Jahan felt on his wife’s death drove him to build something splendid in her memory. Mumtaz was his fourth wife. He married her at the age of fourteen and she died in labour while giving birth to their 14th child. Shah Jahan hurriedly married after her death, this time tying the knot with the latter’s younger sister.
The irony is that the Taj Mahal has the blood of its architect in its foundation, killed by Shah Jahan to preserve the novelty of the tomb. Was it love of Mumtaz or the immortality of the Mughal Empire that led to the building of this symbol of love?
ESHAL KHAN
Karachi
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