For three days, from February 17 to 19, people will be allowed to visit the Taj Mahal for free to commemorate the 368th Urs or death anniversary of Mughal king Shah Jahan. The tombs of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan will also be opened for pilgrims and tourists during the celebration at the monument in Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
On the three-day Urs (death anniversary), rites like “chadar poshi,” “sandal,” “gusul,” and “kul” will be performed. On February 17, the ‘Ghusl’ ceremony—a full-body cleaning process required before engaging in different rites and prayers—will begin at 2 pm.
The ceremonies for “Sandal” and “Milad Sharif” will be held on February 18. The rites of “Kul” (reciting the Quran’s four foundational chapters) and “chadar poshi” (offering a long cloth or cover) will be performed on February 19 from morning to evening. Following the chadar poshi with a multicolour chadar measuring 1450 metres at the tomb of Shah Jahan, a Langar also will also be served.
For Indian nationals and holders of OCI cards, the entrance fee to the Taj Mahal is Rs. 50 on regular days. Citizens of SAARC and BIMSTEC nations must pay a levy of Rs 540. The entrance fee for foreign nationals is Rs. 1100. In addition to the entrance fee, each visitor must pay Rs 200 to see the main mausoleum inside the monument. However, regardless of nationality, there is no entry price for minors under the age of 15.
Shah Jahan and the ‘symbol of love’
Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor who ruled from January 1628 to July 1658, was the third son of the fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir. Taj Mahal is often dubbed as the monument or symbol of love, however, there are certain facts that need to be brought to notice before making such claims.
As per the information available on Wikipedia, Despite the fact that Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan had a love affair during the time between their engagement when she was 14 years old and married when she turned 19, Shah Jahan married his first wife, Princess Kandahari Begum, in 1609, and after his marriage to Mumtaz, in 1617, he took a third wife, Izz-un-Nissa Begum. Shah Jahan also adhered to the unsettling Mughal custom of never leaving their wives alone, not even during war expeditions. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz had fourteen children—eight sons and six daughters—seven of whom passed away at birth or when they were very young. After a 30-hour prolonged labour, Mumtaz Mahal passed away while giving birth to her fourteenth child. Besides, several historical accounts suggest that Shah Jahan also had thousands of women as sex slaves in his Harem.
In his book Histoire de la dernière révolution des états du Grand Mogol, which was translated into English in 1670-71 as Travels In The Mogul Empire, French historian and traveller Francois Bernier wrote that Shah Jahan was passionately in love with his daughter Jahanara.
“His attachment with his daughter reached a point which it is difficult to believe, the justification of which he rested on the decision of Mullahs or doctors of their law. According to them, (Mullahs) it would be unjust to deny the privilege of gathering the fruit of the tree which he himself planted,” as mentioned in the chapter The History of the Last of the Great Rebellions of the Great Mogul.
The book also documents the incident wherein princess Jahanara was often ‘visited’ by a low-ranking officer, and after knowing about this, “Shah Jahan entered her apartments at an unusual and unexpected hour.” It is further mentioned that the youth who was hiding inside a bathing cauldron in Jahanara’s apartment was burnt alive by the eunuchs on the orders of Shah Jahan.
Apparently, the Taj Mahal is nothing more than a narcissistic and self-indulgent memory of Shah Jahan’s second and most favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died at the age of Forty, having birthed Eight Sons and Six Daughters to the Emperor.
