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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Monumental Dispute Raging Over Taj Mahal |
| 2005-05-19 |
| An ownership battle has erupted over the world's most famous monument to love, the Taj Mahal, as it celebrates its 350th anniversary. The magnificent 17th-century structure, in Uttar Pradesh, built by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved queen, Mumtaz Mahal, is owned and managed by the Archaeological Survey of India as a national monument. But the Sunni Waqf Board, which oversees Sunni Muslim graveyards and mosques throughout India, has staked a claim to the white-marbled tomb, saying since the monument houses Muslim graves, the Taj belongs to it. The Taj contains the tombs of Shah Jahan and his queen along with other tombs. Contradicting the Muslim claim, a hard-line Hindu outfit, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), says the Taj Mahal's builders constructed it after demolishing a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. The Hindu group says the monument should be declared a temple and adds the key to the mystery lies in a sealed basement in the Taj that it says contains the "pillars and artifact of a temple". |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #18 I am glad that all those nutcases have nothing better to do then fight over who owns a grave. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-05-19 23:25 |
| #17 answer: STFU |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-19 21:44 |
| #16 Chuck, as I recall, it isn't the entire roof, only part of it that the monk is guarding for his sect. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-05-19 19:56 |
| #15 ;) |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-05-19 13:05 |
| #14 It's damn cold up here much of the year Sister Em. |
| Posted by: Brother Carmel Delight 2005-05-19 12:05 |
| #13 But the Sunni Waqf Board, which oversees Sunni Muslim.. After seeing just the title, I had suspected that Muslims were involved in this "dispute". Seems my suspicions were correct. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-05-19 12:04 |
| #12 Not going to matter all that much long if India doesn't take better care of the thing. I was there ~3 years ago and lets just say their maintenance ain't the best I've ever seen. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2005-05-19 11:57:09 AM |
| #11 Read Ernie Gann's Fate is the Hunter about a severely overloaded cargo plane in WWII. It took off from a field near the Taj Mahal on a hot day and was wallowing away in the air and heading right for the site and a certain crash. "What will we do?" Cried the crew. "Full flaps!" cried the captain, and they hopped over the Taj Mahal with a few feet to spare. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-05-19 11:36 |
| #10 More info available here. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-05-19 10:32 |
| #9 The Moghul emperors were Muslim, from Persia. |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-05-19 10:31 |
| #8 I have heard, although I cannot confirm, that in the process of building the Taj Mahal, one of the workers discarded a wooden box. Turned out he'd discarded Mumtaz Mahal's coffin, and her body with it; so that she never was inside the tomb. So, if that story is true, does the Taj Mahal actually contain any Muslim graves? Does anybody have some further information on this? |
| Posted by: mom 2005-05-19 10:21 |
| #7 Chuck - I'm so glad to hear we've got a 24/7 monk-watch on the Holy Shingle of Antioch! I find it fitting that a temple of Shiva "The Destroyer" was razed for the Taj. No irony there! |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-05-19 09:41 |
| #6 How cool would it be if the monk in the chair on the roof kept a blog... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-05-19 09:30 |
| #5 "Don't touch! It's mine, mine, mine!" - unknown 3 year old at the playground, 2005. |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-05-19 09:22 |
| #4 Now, now, you do recall that two Catholic religious orders are fighting over who controls the roof of one of the holy sites in Israel. One side has had a monk sitting in a chair on the roof for several years now. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-05-19 09:19 |
| #3 Thar's gold in them thar temples. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-05-19 09:16 |
| #2 The Taj Mahal, the 327,645th Holiest Place In IslamTM... |
| Posted by: Raj 2005-05-19 09:03 |
| #1 A sealed basement - somebody call Geraldo Rivera's agent! |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-05-19 00:31 |