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India Tourism » Discover Taj Mahal » Legends and Theories Legends and Theories The "Black Taj"  A longstanding popular tradition holds that an identical mausoleum complex was originally supposed to be built on the other side of the river, in black marble instead of white. The story suggests that Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb before the black version could be built. Ruins of dark marble found across the river are, the story suggests, the unfinished base of this "Black Taj".Recent scholarship disputes this theory, and throws some interesting light on the design of the Taj. All other major Mughal tombs were sited in gardens that form a cross, with the tomb at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal pieces. The Taj gardens, by contrast, form a great 'T', with the tomb at the centre of the crosspiece. But the outline of the ruins on the other river bank would extend the design of the Taj gardens to form a cross of proportions typical of other Mughal tombs. Further, the marble in the ruins opposite the Taj, while dark from staining, were originally white. In addition, an octagonal pool in these ruins would have reflected the Taj. Scholars have called these ruins the Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden". Shah Jahan's asymmetric tomb Aurangzeb had Shah Jahan's tomb and cenotaph placed in the Taj rather than building him a separate mausoleum such as other emperors had. He thus destroyed the symmetry of the Taj design. A variation on the Black Taj legend suggests that Aurangzeb's decision was made from malice or parsimony. In Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb however, which was a major influence on the Taj design, Aurangzeb's grandparents were interred in a similar asymmetric fashion. British Plan to Demolish the Taj  There is an often-repeated story that Lord William Bentinck, governor of India in the 1830s, planned to demolish the Taj and auction off the marble. In some versions of the tale, the demolition crew were ready to begin their work but were stopped only because Bentinck was unable make the scheme financially viable. There is no contemporary evidence for this story, which may to have grown up later in the nineteenth century when Bentinck was being criticised for his penny-pinching Utilitarianism, and when Lord Curzon was emphasising earlier neglect of the monument in order to present himself as the saviour of Indian antiquities. Nevertheless, the story may have been based on a real proposal.Was the Taj Originally a Temple? Recently, some Hindu historians have asserted that the Taj was essentially a temple, or that its architecture ^ is based on Hindu temples. Most prominent among these is the Indian writer P.N. Oak, who suggests that the term 'Taj Mahal' is derived from 'Tejo Mahalaya'. He further states that the Taj was originally a Hindu temple of the God Shiva, usurped and remodelled by Shah Jahan. Other sources state that the temple was completely destroyed. Such theories are not accepted by mainstream scholars. Agra India Tourism Reservation Form
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