“The Taj Mahal is ( or shall we say, ‘was’ ) a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal.( these emperor guys do get around, don’t they! They must learn from the Emperor Penguins! One wife and no roving eyes!)
The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage”-
So says Wikipedia!
At the end of the last century the Indian Government noticed the growing polution problem caused by the tanneries in and around the area in which the Taj is situated . This was threatening the health of the structure!
So it started a program to save the monument’s shiny white marble façade since it was showing a strong tendency,( most monuments have a mind of their own;), and turning yellow. Over $150 million were spent on restoration but it did not help much. I fervently hope that money really went into the project and not into someone’s pockets;)
Corrosion has unfortunately continued and acid rain in that area has also caused a change in the color of the façade. Some years ago restoration experts started putting mud packs around the façade to bring back the building’s shiny white color. For all the good it did, however, the government might as well have used all that face packs on the faces of all those old women coming to the beauty parlours all over the country , with much better results!
In fact if Emperor Shah Jahan were to resurrect himself he , after one look at his poor wife’s monument would have started to look around for a convenient rafter to hang himself from…that bad it is now!
The following kar2n sums up the situation , albeit a bit exaggerated !
Father, son and Taj
Long Live Taj, white or black!
lostloff 