Among the various concerns over the Taj Mahal's upkeep, one more has been added recently: the condition of its main dome. After heavier than usual monsoon rains lashed the historic city of Agra in September, water seeped through the main dome and reached the tombs of Emperor Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, the king's favorite wife in whose memory he built the mausoleum between 1631 and 1648.
The Taj Mahal is India's most iconic tourist attraction and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. However, the lack of care this marble masterpiece suffers raises questions about whether India has done a satisfactory job of maintaining it. A senior official of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the government agency responsible for protecting important historical monuments, told local media that the main dome was not damaged, but water had seeped through to reach the burial chamber. Historians do not find the ASI's words reassuring, especially since other magnificent monuments under its care are not faring well.
Agra, located 220 kilometers (137 miles) southeast of the national capital, New Delhi, once served as the center of the authority of the South Asian subcontinent's mighty Mughal empire.
"The footfall at the Taj has no comparison with any other preserved iconic structure in the subcontinent. Unfortunately, its upkeep for decades has been extremely dismal," said Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, a professor of history at Aligarh Muslim University and secretary of the Indian History Congress, the largest body of professional historians.
"For centuries, the Taj Mahal has stood as an enduring symbol of India's architectural brilliance and romantic heritage. However, in the wake of three days of unrelenting rainfall, the white-marble monument's iconic dome is facing an unexpected challenge – water leakage," the Telegraph newspaper wrote on Sept. 14.
Agra is home to some of the most spectacular Mughal-era monuments.
The rain also caused some damage at other historical sites, including the mausoleum of I'timad-ud-Daulah, which is known as the "Baby Taj." I'timad-ud-Daulah, whose real name was Mirza Ghiyas Beg, was prime minister in the royal court. More importantly, he was the father of Empress Nur Jahan, Emperor Jahangir's wife, who got the tomb built in his honor.
The tomb of Emperor Akbar, Jahangir's father, is in Agra as well, located in the Sikandra area at some distance away from the Taj Mahal. Agra is identified with Akbar and was renamed Akbarabad during his reign. The sprawling Agra Fort, not far from the Taj Mahal, is among the finest examples of Mughal architecture and political power.
About 35 kilometers from Agra is Fatehpur Sikri (the "city of victory"), which Akbar built as his new capital and later abandoned for various reasons. Fatehpur Sikri has some of the grandest Mughal buildings built in the 16th century.
India earns a fortune in tourist revenue from these monuments and it can significantly grow this income by making a serious commitment to preserving and protecting Mughal heritage. However, the way the Taj Mahal is handled does not create room for too much optimism.
"There are serious issues about the preservation and maintenance of this iconic monument, which is part of not just Indian but world heritage," said Mohammad Tarique Anwar, an associate professor of history at Delhi University. To treat the Taj Mahal as an ordinary monument by the ASI or the state and central governments would be outrageous, he said.
Many historical buildings have been lost to neglect and vandalism and some simply swallowed by urban expansion. In Delhi, the centuries-old Tughlaqabad Fort, the Khirki Mosque, heritage sites in Old Delhi, and a building associated with the famous traveler Ibn Battuta all present a picture of heritage neglect.
Maulvi Zafar Hasan is a well-known name among historians for the work he did in the early 20th century in compiling a list of heritage buildings. The list was prepared by the ASI and became known as the "Zafar Hasan List." Zafar Hasan carried out his surveys in Delhi and across India when the capital of British India was being shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1911. The list is considered a highly prized source among scholars of history.
Sohail Hashmi, a Delhi-based heritage activist, writer and filmmaker, said the compilation had 3,000 monuments in 1920, but 90 years later, 1,000 buildings mentioned in it were gone. "What happened to the 1,000 monuments is unknown," Hashmi said.
Mahmood Farooqui, an author and historian, sees a general problem of lackadaisical attitude toward preserving history and heritage. "Our attitude to historical buildings and monuments is not that is found in Europe, for instance," he said. "There is a very divided attitude to history. We are, even now, not settled on our views on Gandhi and Nehru," he said, referring to Indian freedom struggle leaders Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, who receive scant respect, if not outright insults, from radical Hindu nationalists.
Farooqui's argument on divided attitudes is also about regional views about historical figures, old kingdoms and events. In this, what is a matter of pride for one group may be treated as disgrace by another. He offers examples of the historical versions in the western, southern and northern parts of India. In the famous 1818 clash between the British East India Company and the Peshwa faction of the Maratha Confederacy, for instance, the lower caste Mahar community sided with the British and defeated the local upper castes in the Bhima Koregaon battle. The Maratha people have their own history in western India, and in the south, many identify closely with the Chola dynasty. Therefore, behind the neglect of monuments, one part of the problem, Farooqui said, "is owing to the fact we do not have a settled idea of history."
One mythomania phenomenon in India is the laying of Hindu claims on Mughal monuments, mosques and Islamic sites through absurd theories and recently manufactured falsehoods. Even the most magnificent monuments have not been spared propaganda and encroachment. At Red Fort in Delhi, idols have been placed on small raised platforms inside and outside the main monument, and in Hyderabad, a shrine dedicated to a goddess has been erected at the iconic Charminar. The Taj Mahal, though safe from disfigurement due to the international exposure it gets, has not been left standing without controversies.
Other reasons cited for the poor maintenance and preservation of heritage buildings are a paucity of funds and a lack of staff and technical expertise. A lot has been spoken and written about the ASI being ineffective in carrying out its responsibilities of heritage protection. It is headed by a civil servant, but the posting is not considered a coveted one.
"It is not a sought-after post. Senior bureaucrats prefer departments that come with large budgets and political influence," Hashmi said. However, he disagrees with the notion that India lacks cash for the upkeep of heritage buildings. "It is not that the government is short of funds. They have money, but not for preserving historical monuments," he said.
Rezavi, however, highlights deliberate negligence due to which India's rich heritage is being systematically destroyed. In this sense, his views are close to the "divided attitude" mentioned above. He said the Taj Mahal, while being "milked as much as possible" for tourist revenue, is being treated as an "enemy property." His allusion is to Hindu nationalist tendencies in which India's centuries-old Islamic heritage and the Mughal period are not seen as a source of pride despite that era's monumental achievements, which are not confined to the well-known architectural masterpieces.
"For a number of years, Taj's marble and the carvo-intaglio patterns (a style used during Shah Jahan's rule) on its subsidiary structures (mosque and mehmankhana buildings in the complex) have been falling apart and rotting," Rezavi said.
Air pollution caused by smoke-belching industries and vehicles is also turning the Taj's white marble facade yellow and green. The sewage-filled Yamuna river flowing beside the Taj Mahal is a breeding ground for insects that swarm the area.
Then, there is a brand of hostility worse than any pollution. It is not uncommon to hear those subscribing to Hindutva, an ethnic-nationalist political ideology that excludes Muslims from the cultural identity of India, cry about the "symbols of slavery" while the world admires the architectural beauty and cultural brilliance of the Mughal period and the Delhi Sultanate before that.
"Look at the two Mughal forts at Agra and Delhi or any of the other Mughal monuments of the region. All show a sign of criminal and deliberate neglect," Rezavi said.
