One Teardrop on the Cheek of Time
By Dr. Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
The celebrated Indian poet, Ravindranath Tagore, allegorically referred to the Taj Mahal in one of his verses as: one teardrop, glistening spotlessly bright on the cheek of time. Classified asone of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Taj is a testament to the eternal and enduring love of a man for his wife. It is visited by more than three millions tourists annually, two to three hundred thousands of them coming from outside India. UNESCO in 1983 designated it a world heritage site.
More than three-and-a-half centuries have elapsed since it was built by Emperor Shah Jahan; however, time has not been kind to this Islamic architectural masterpiece. Especially the decades since independence have witnessed a noticeable deterioration in its sparkling white appearance. In addition to the physical stress imposed by millions of visitors trudging over its delicate floors and through its spacious pavilions, the atmospheric pollution and corrosive gases spewed by the iron foundries of Agra have inflicted major harm. Persistent exposure to pollutants in the air has dulled the brilliant shine of the porcelain-like marble, imparting a yellowish tinge to some sections of the facade.
The Indian Government has been concerned about preserving the beauty and mystique of the Taj that has become a symbol of national pride and a source of much revenue. However, combating the menace of air pollution eating into the marble surface poses a challenge far greater than maintaining the structural soundness of the building. The Indian Supreme Court, more than ten years ago, had decreed the closure of factories and industrial units in the proximity of the Taj in a desperate attempt to reduce the level of air pollution and retard discoloration of the marble surfaces. The decree, however, had only marginal success. After much experimentation, Indian scientists have now come up with an ingenious and inexpensive solution. Application of fuller’s earth (Multani Mitti) has long been recommended by Unani and Ayurvedic physicians for facial and skin rejuvenation. The scientists have discovered that the application of a thin coat of the earth, briefly applied to the Taj’s exterior and then washed off, can effectively restore much of its original sparkle. It extracts and absorbs the impurities and pollutants that get embedded into the marble over a period of time.
The Taj Mahal’s current problems are not entirely recent in origin. In an excellent book entitled Taj Mahal and recently published by Walker and Company, New York (2007), the authors, Diana and Michael Preston, narrate in exquisite detail the planning, construction and completion of the magnificent monuments and its subsequent deterioration. With the decline of Mogul power and the disintegration of the central authority in the eighteenth and nineteenth century India, the Taj suffered many acts of vandalism at the hands of unruly bands of Jats and Marathas. Its precious and semiprecious floral inlays were chiseled away; lavish carpets, expensive wall hangings and an ornate door made of silver were removed and carted away. The British suzerainty brought no relief. Once Agra was captured by General Lake in 1803, the Taj Mahal became a playground for soldiers and employees of the East India Company, who would use its marble floors and terraces for late night dancing parties as the brass bands played music. The mosque and the Tasbih khana on the two sides of the tomb were rented out to newlyweds to be used as weekend honeymoon cottages.
Lord William Bentinck who served as the Governor General, first of Bengal and then of India from 1828-1835, had a reputation for stinginess and little appreciation of India’s cultural heritage. He is reported to have contemplated the demolition of the Taj Mahal and auctioning off the rubble to raise money. The plan was, however, abandoned as it was estimated that the cost of demolition would exceed the amount of cash that could be raised by sale of the marble slabs. Although the story is repeated in several chronicles, its authenticity has been disputed by Bentinck’s biographer, John Rosselli, and it might be only apocryphal. Regardless, it does reflect how little appreciation of the Taj Mahal existed at the time.
The Taj remained in a state of neglect and disrepair for many years. Its once lush gardens, attractive water fountains and luxuriant flower beds were all withering away. However, its fortunes were to be reversed with the appointment at the turn of century of Lord Curzon as the viceroy of India (1898-1905). An aristocrat, educated at Oxford and appointed to one of the most powerful positions in the world at the young age 39, Curzon was reputed to be a supercilious person with an exaggerated sense of superiority. Fortunately, he also had a deep interest in the preservation and restoration of the Mogul historic monuments in India, especially the Taj Mahal.
Soon after his arrival, Lord Curzon initiated a major restoration project of the Taj which he cherished. The work continued even after he left India and was completed in 1908. He ordered the construction of a brass hanging lamp, a replica of an antique lantern which he had originally seen and much admired in a mosque in Cairo, Egypt. He gifted it to the Taj where it hangs from the ceiling of the interior chamber above the cenotaph. Lord Curzon was extremely proud of his contributions to the restoration of the Taj. In his speech delivered from the plinth of Taj Mahal -- one of the last ones he gave as viceroy and cited by Diana and Michael Preston in their book -- he proudly announced: ”If I’d never done anything else in India, I have written my name here and the letters are a living joy.”
It may not be widely known that the mausoleum at Agra is not the first resting place for Arjumand Banu Begam, popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal, the beautiful queen who died at the age of 38 years. Although Mumtaz Mahal was not Shah Jahan’s only wife, the relationship between the two had been exceptional. They had been intensely devoted to each other and the emperor never traveled without her by his side.
Moguls had been battling the kingdoms of Deccan for several generations in an attempt to subdue them. On one such occasion in 1629, Shah Jahan left the capital for Burhanpur on the Tapti River in present-day Madhya Pradesh at the head of a mighty Mogul army to suppress a local insurgency. The city at the time served as the capital and military headquarter of the Mogul empire in the South. In the summer of 1631, Mumtaz Mahal, pregnant with her fourteenth child, went into labor at the royal palace at Burhanpur, gave birth to a stillborn baby and died of resultant complications, while the distraught Princess Jahan Ara, her daughter, and Shah Jahan remained at her side.
It has been recorded by historian that the emperor went into a period of deep mourning following the death of his beloved wife, his beard reportedly turning gray in a matter of days. He never took serious interests in the conduct of the state business thereafter.
Mumtaz Mahal’s body was temporarily interred in a tomb at Burhanpur for about six months and later moved to Agra in a golden casket arriving at the capital in regal splendor. Today, it reposes in a monument built in her memory, so ethereal and majestic that it has had no rival.
The Taj Mahal provided succor and comfort to Shah Jahan during the final nine years of his life which he spent as a prisoner at the Agra Fort from where he was permitted only to gaze at it but never to visit.
