Tuesday, August 28, 2012

I wonder why the Taj is a wonder!

In the last one and half years, we could get to travel to a few historic places (thanks to wife's interest in them!). And amongst all of them, the one that was most boring was the Taj Mahal! Yes, I said it! 

Since our visit to the Taj Mahal a couple of weeks, we keep on thinking - why exactly is a wonder? Wonder of the world that too! 

Wiki Answers webpage gives this reason


The Taj Mahal is a unique, massive, impressive architectural accomplishment of it's time, 55 meters high. The Statue of Liberty could fit inside it easily (46m).

It is considered by many who have seen it to be the most beautiful building ever built. The date of its completion plus the reason for its existence, add to the wondrous nature of the structure.

Unique? Let's sample something unique below:


This picture is from Ellora Caves. The Kailashnath temple here has been carved out of a single rock, from the top! 



There are more pictures that I can post, but this whole place is amazing beyond description. The attention to detail at so many places inside the "cave", the designs, the paintings, the artchitecture etc were so mesmerizing - and guess what - this is Unique too! I wondered then, why this is not a wonder of the world.  Another example of some amazing carvings:





At this point of time, I hadn't visited the Taj Mahal. We covered Ajantha caves by then. Out of all the caves at both Ajantha and Ellora, this one stood out. In case you forgot, this was carved from the top! So just imagine the effort and thought process that must have gone into the planning and execution of this superb project back in the 7th century (Taj Mahal is a 15th century construction!). And sadly, this is not a wonder of the world. 

Anyways, let's come back to Wiki Answer. Massive, impressive architectural accomplishment. 

Take a look at the Amber Palace near Jaipur. 


Massive, right? Impressive, right? Architectural accomplishment, right? No, not happy? Fine, take a look at the Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur. 


Let's zoom in a bit, just in case you are not able to gauge the massiveness of this fort.

At many places, you wouldn't know where the mountain rock is ending and the fort wall begins - such is the beauty of this fort. 

I have many more pictures that I took of these palaces and forts in a recent vacation - was bowled over by the details of planning (that included rain-water harvesting methods, drinking water canals, huge canons, strong walls, etc) that went into the construction of these places. I am pretty sure there are many more such massive, impressive, architectural accomplishments in the country - and most importantly, all of them have multiple stories and sacrifices associated with them. 

And these were all constructed before the Taj Mahal. So I still keep wondering - why is the Taj Mahal a wonder of the world? "Symbol of Love" seems to be a very very stupid reason. So anything else? Or did it just get lucky with the hype of being a "symbol of love"? 

Next time, someone sends me a mail asking to vote for Taj Mahal - they are going to the link to this post! 

For completeness sake, here's a picture of Taj Mahal we took - It is huge, no doubt about it, but that's about it. 




17 comments:

Unknown said...

amazing find friend...must be shared with more people...i'll share it on twitter....

CodeNameV said...

Asalu one range lo rasesaru mastaru .... exactly my sentiments. Jantar Mantar is a wonder. Meeru Madhurai vellinappudu chudandi ... Thiruparankundram ani oka gudi untundi, adi konda lopaliki untundi.... asalu one rangest temple adi ... poni gullu gopuralu secular kadu ante... Jantar Mantar? ....

Nenu pellayye munde cheppanu satimani tho ... Taj Mahal biggu no no ani :D

Unknown said...

The fact behind the wonder is that a temple of 7th century was changed after 7 centuries like this.Indians most obediently accepts whatever is told by any foreigner about them or their country.if it is not the wonder of the world..., what else ? Here also injustice to our country... in fact, this must be the 1st.wonder of the world...but most obediently accepted the last position. It is really very beautiful, though it is an alteration to its original structure.

Unknown said...

The fact behind the wonder is that a temple of 7th century was changed after 7 centuries like this.Indians most obediently accepts whatever is told by any foreigner about them or their country.if it is not the wonder of the world..., what else ? Here also injustice to our country... in fact, this must be the 1st.wonder of the world...but most obediently accepted the last position. It is really very beautiful, though it is an alteration to its original structure.

Anonymous said...

U are not secular with this article (pun intended) :P

Ashok Trivedi said...

V. S. Naipaul on the Taj Mahal:

On the Taj Mahal
“The Taj is so wasteful, so decadent and in the end so cruel that it is painful to be there for very long.”

"I am less interested in the Taj Mahal which is a vulgar, crude building, a display of power built on blood and bones. Everything exaggerated, everything overdone, which suggests a complete slave population. I would like to find out what was there before the Taj Mahal."

Anonymous said...

Whether i agree or disagree is immaterial to the conversation but i applaud you. Not because you said it but because you have given ample proofs to your theory and have actually put in some thought, instead of just clicking a few snaps and posting on FB :)

Roberto el Sandriano said...

I had the same feeling about Taj Mahal.

Roberto

zincoshine said...

We were planning to visit Taj next month. For some reason I never had a chance to visit Taj. Given your post now I have second thoughts on visiting the place :(

Zincoshine said...

And btw that explains your hiatus from blog! I thought the reason was you had moved on to Niticentral :D!

Amit Gupta said...

Well your point is correct, India is full of mesmerizing and magnificient architectural wonders. I hope they too find place in wonders of the world...

peterparker said...

TAJ is not great, secular confused HINDOOOOOOOS means slavish mindset people have made it to appease musallas. IT is so crude, so primitie. Look at the architecture of AJANTA CAVES, the HAMPI ARCHITECTURE. I would rate HOWRAH BRIDGE on any given day better than TAJ, even though that is also built by MLECHHA BRISHERS. JAI BHAGWAN PARASHURAM

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