After threats in a handwritten letter from some al-Qaeda fan indicated that one of the world’s most famous and beloved monuments was in danger yesterday, the Taj Mahal was surrounded by paramilitary soldiers on 24-hour guard (Thanks, DJ Drrrty Poonjabi).
“Police are verifying the source of the letter,” said Ashok Kumar, a senior government official in Uttar Pradesh state where the Taj Mahal is located. “The letter could be false but we cannot afford to be complacent. We are not taking any chances and have enhanced security at the Taj.”
…The state government has asked the federal civil aviation authorities and IndiaÂ’s air force to declare a no-fly zone within a 2.5-mile radius of the Taj Mahal, said N. C. Bajpei, Uttar PradeshÂ’s highest official.[link]
After recent events, security-based prohibitions against carrying liquids of any kind don’t really surprise me, but what does shock me is how an iconic structure which I associate with Islam is being targeted. WTF?
In similar head-scratching developments, details about the letter are…interesting:
“The letter is written in Hindi. The writing resembles either that of a junior class student or may have been written with the left hand,” Juneja told TOI on Friday evening.
How sinister.
“As the writing is similar to that of the two previous letters, it can be safely said that it has been sent by the same person. We have picked up matching fingerprints from the three letters,” he said.
“Though Thursday’s letter bears a local postal stamp, the earlier ones had no such identification and may have been delivered by hand,” said another senior police officer, adding, “in place of the sender’s name, the letters carry the term ‘MM009’.”[link]
Smile, you’re on a not-so-candid camera:
“We have also launched an extensive drive to photograph every individual who has access within 500m radius of the monument,” said Juneja.[link]
So, one of the greatest physical manifestations of love the world has ever known is now endangered because of hate. Everyone says the former is sightless, but I think the latter is what’s blind. How else could anyone aim such evil at something so magnificent? 🙁
I am not sure if this is a shared believe in Islam but once I was told by a muslim acquaintence that Taj Mahal in their eyes is just a Makbara (monument where the graves are located). I don’t think that they associate it with love, purity or any such emotion. In fact they refuse to keep one in their house because it is a makbara
Let me clarify Makbara is more clearly where graves of Muslim emperors or royalty are located.
Wow, that’s interesting and helps explain away my disconnect…can anyone confirm or deny?
Nothing new here. It has always been the practice to cover the Taj Mahal with canvas during war. As an example, see the second paragaraph of this article.
Maybe the islamic fanatics found out that…..
The Tajmahal is Tejomahalay a Hindu Temple : http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/taj_oak.html
The Photographic Evidence : http://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm
😉
some schools of islam frown upon anything that might be perceived as an object of idolatry. remember, the wahhabis in arabia attacked the tomb of the prophet! but this is not a universal islamic belief, veneration of saints and sacral sites is not uncommon throughout the islamic world.
More on Post 4:
A Google search with the keywords “war taj mahal camouflage” yields several hits. See the 14th paragraph of this article. For a contrary point of view, see this article.
anna asks
dont know how to alleviate anna’s anguish on that particular issue – but this i know there are several reasons why the monumnent should not be a terrorist target – on the one side of the taj mahal is a mosque crafted in sandstone – a functioning mosque no less – on the opposite side, just because they wanted to keep the symmetry to the structure, they’ve created a replica structure called the javaab (or answer) – pretty but quite useess – you can tell the taxpayers werent a powerforce in those days heh. the makbara literally means the crypt – the stone building is just a facade – a shell – the graves are underground – the people who refuse to keep the little stone thing in their house either just have good taste or are superstitious nimrods. then there is religious significance to the entire set-up in a manner pecuilar to islam. the garden itself surrounding the marble edifice stands in for paradise and has religious significance. this also reflects in the scientific planning of the gardens , the positioning of the water fountains and the paths – but i cant remember all that, need to vait for a desi davinchee- furthermore there are verses of the koran carved into the marble of the building. which should convince you that , in case you havent concluded so yet, anyone who bombs the place has little knowledge of religion or spirituality.
Well, kindly allow me to alleviate any anguish you might be experiencing with regards to alleviating my anguish on this particular issue– you don’t need to know how. I was merely asking for more knowledgable heads to step forward, just as you did; so thank you, the rest of your comment was very edifying.
Nothing new here. It has always been the practice to cover the Taj Mahal with canvas during war.
That was done for strategic reasons since in the pre-GPS and extra precision equipment world, monuments like Taj Mahal would be used for guidance during night time air-raids/ sortees.
Often, huge religious monuments are not bombed purposefully as a PR exercise in wars even by enemies and are used for triangulation. Unless, they (the generic enemy) are going for carpet-bombing.
Such practises go back to World Wars all over the world.
The letters are written in Hindi…
Maybe it’s a scared kid trying to protect the Taj Mahal; he wrote the letters so there would be extra security around it in this time of uncertainty. Just a thought.
And maybe I’m just too optimistic… Another thought 🙂
arrey yaar! we were being silly… verily. dont be mad.
I question the timing. My suggestion is to look for left-handed, Hindi-speaking Lieberman supporters in Uttar Pradesh.
How many of those do ya think would be around, huh?
The Taj Mahal is a monument to vanity and wasteful extravagance. It served no useful purpose when it was built, and is probably one of the reasons why Shah Jahan was deposed and imprisoned by his own son Aurangzeb.
The Al-Qaeda, who are wahhabis, see all tombs as idol worship. They have made Saudi Arabia a tomb-free zone. Even Mohammad isnt allowed any grave markers, much less a fancy building, atop his grave. But if you try to reason with these wild-eyed whackjobs and point out that prostrating towards the Kaaba five times a day is itself idol worship, they will probably try to slit your throat halal-style 🙂
almost certainly this is going to be a hoax…i can feel it for some reason
While the Taj Mahal is a beautiful structure from an artistic pov, not sure is there was that much “love” extended to the people who built it… Shah Jahan supposedly cut off the hand of the chief mason on its completion to prevent it from being duplicated.
Mumtaz Mahal led a hard life having to be by Shah Jehan’s side all the time. She is said to have died during her 17th pregnancy. Love? Maniacal obsession is more like it.
It is a structure of beauty. I’d hate to see it blown apart, just like a didn’t enjoy seeing the great Buddhas of Bamhazar destroyed. It is an architectural magnificence of a sort I suppose.
-Khshemwais
She is said to have died during her 17th pregnancy.
Damn, thas a lot of children. My greatgrandmo from the village of Bar-Barakshem I think was said to have had 19. I didn’t even think that was possible until recently.
There are many sects in Islam. Some muslims claim that hadiths that mention killing of ‘idolators’ etc etc is not part of quran and not Islamic. However, the same hadiths are part of Islam to the people who believe in them. People in the western media also greatly underestimate the percentage of muslims that support radical version of Islam. I would say it approaches almost 80% of the population in large areas of pakistan where the only source of any education was the Madrasas.
sigh.
radical version of Islam. I would say it approaches almost 80% of the population in large areas of pakistan where the only source of any education was the Madrasas.
Balochistan supposedly supports Israel. FATA NWF and the Northern Areas are where many of the “radicals” reside.
Is it really that surprising? I m surprised the Taj hasnt been targeted yet. PS: Do you think logical questions like “How else could anyone aim such evil at something so magnificent?” matter to the militant mind?
Do you think logical questions like “How else could anyone aim such evil at something so magnificent?” matter to the militant mind?
Huh? That question didn’t strike me as as much logical as emotionally affected. There are words in there which make it an emotional affectation rather than a statement in logic. You sure that’s a logical question? lol jus playin;)
But then, this is not about logic. A N N A is obviously emotionally touched by this. I can feel her on the issue.
The Taj is not a religious structure. And while I shared the same sense of disconnect when I read today’s headlines, I realised that Taj is a very meaningful target for these reasons:
a] Large number of fatalities, as it is the most visited monument in the country b] Adverse impact on Indian tourism c] Symbolically, Taj represents India more than it represents Islam. At least for most of the world. It is probably the first thing people think of when they think of India. Just think of all the movies, comics etc where you know you are India because the Taj in the frame.
Brilliant!
Left-Sinister connection. I hope that was intentional, but if not, a serendipitous coincidence.
Thank you for noticing. 🙂
Anna: I do not know whether the momument is “sacred” or not, but many decades ago a very melodius film song in praise of Taj Mahal went something like this: “EK SHAHANSHAH NE BAVA KE HASEEN TAJ MAHAL, SAREE DUNIYA KO MOHAABAT KI NISHANI DI HEIN”
In response to this a voice of “Lover” who was desperately poor and completely broke wrote:
ANGINAT LOGONE DUNIYAMEIN MOHHABAT KI HEIN KAUN KAHTA HEIN KE SADIIQ NAA THE JAJBEIN UNKE?
EK SHAHANSHAH NE AAPNI DAULAT KA SAHARA LE KAR HUM GARIBON KI MOHHABAT KA UDAYA HEIN MAJAAK…. MERI JAAN KAHIN AUR MILAA KAR MUJHE….
I hope you are good in “Hindi” and get the gist of this. Regardless, a structure like TAJ ought to be preserved for future generations – if for nothing else – it’s “Architectural Beauty”.
no habla anything. some help please?
The Taj land was owned by the Raja of Amber. There are no reports of the Taj being constructed in any Mogul document and usually several references are available re other major structures. Recently we wanted to make a documentary re its origin and gave it up because it appeared to be Hindu. Sick and wary of provoking unnecessary problems, we decided not to proceed. Incidentally Warren Hastings wanted to dismantle it and send big chunks to beautify estates in Sussez. He thought it was particularly ugly, especially the minarets s and thought the marble could be better use. This opinion is documented. The dismantling was not carried out because of lack of interest in Sussex.
Puliogre in Da USA: Let me try and translate this for you. One king of kings by building the beautiful Taj Mahal has given the entire world a symbol of LOVE ! (Most probably written by Shakeel Badaauni)
Poor Shaair’s response: Countless people in this world have fallen into love Who says that their love was not pure? …………… One king of kings, with the aid of his wealth have made a mockery of love, of us poors. My love, please meet me somewhere else !!
(Probably written by Saahir Ludhiyanvi)??