What does the Taj Mahal stand for?

The past millennia or so of Indian history is largely a painful story of invasions by Mughals and Britishers. The Mughals (and other Muslim invaders) left no stone unturned in destroying our sacred monuments, universities and libraries. And the British had a more devastating effect by directly tampering with our education system which led to a severe erosion of our culture and social fabric. Of course, one could argue that the British also brought in many things modern, without which Indians would have been left behind by several centuries. However, when we look at the Mughal period, there is nothing much that they did which could have contributed to India's advancement, perhaps except for the Taj Mahal! It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful monuments not only in India but over the whole world. But what does the Taj Mahal stand for? Some would say it stands for our slavish past. Others would say that it stand as a sign of the deepest love that a man can have for a woman. Yet others would say that it stands for the exquisite skill of Indian artisans of those times. But is there another perspective we could have on this that perhaps connects the Taj Mahal to the deeper dimensions of Indian history and culture?

There are several monuments around the globe that are considered to be world heritage sites. Most of these monuments were built for religious, cultural, political or other societal reasons. Taj Mahal perhaps stands out among all these and is perhaps the only one built by one human for another. No society, no religion, no politics, nothing. Some may call it love, some may call it attachment and others may call it lust. No matter what name we give it, what cannot be refuted is the fact that it was a result of the feelings that a man had for a woman. Some may claim that it was an ancient Shiva temple, but then there can be no end to conspiracy theories. There are primarily two questions that need to be asked in this regard. Firstly, why did it require a Mughal to build such a grand monument of love, when they are usually known for destroying monuments in India? And secondly, why did it get built in Agra and not some other place in India?

In order to understand the perspective being presented here, it is imperative to have some background of Vrindavan and Mathura, which are located very close to Agra. It is more helpful to have visited these places at least once and experienced the natural love the common folk have there. There are many places in India where people treat each other well, but very few where people speak so sweetly! No wonder Krishna got so much love and adoration during his lifetime from the cowherds of this region. There is something special about this place which naturally leads to the expression of love from deep within. It is very natural for someone who lives in the vicinity of such a region to feel strong bonds of love with their beloved ones. And Shahjahan is perhaps the result of such a transformative process. 

But why did it have to be a Mughal? Why didn't a native Indian king feel like building such a monument for his beloved? In Indian culture, not only is the highest place given to God, but our idea of God permeates every single relationship that a human can have with another. In Hinduism, one could think of God as a friend, a Guru, a parent or even a beloved. The whole Indian society is inclined to express its highest emotions towards various forms of God. And so, our kings did built great temples of various kinds that express these varied emotions. Hence, it needed someone outside the fold of Hinduism to express such a high intensity of human emotion towards another human being. It could have been a Christian or someone from another faith, but there is perhaps something unique about Islam which made Vivekananda once say, "I see in my mind's eye the future perfect India rising out of this chaos and strife, glorious and invincible, with Vedanta brain and Islam body".

There are of course several perspectives that one could have about the Taj Mahal, but the above suggests that this monument is perhaps a realisation of what Vivekananda said. It is a reminder of the magic that can be created when people of these two faiths come together to work for a common cause. The Taj Mahal is pure beauty and it is almost impossible not to simply melt away admiring it from close quarters. Hope we can come together in the near future to build something that will be more magnificent this teardrop on the cheeks of time!