New Delhi: Taj Mahal was built as the essence of love and beauty by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. But do you know Shah Jahan would have built another Taj Mahal for himself too if he would have not been imprisoned by Aurangjeb. This Taj Mahal would have been black in colour and would have been situated just opposite Mumtaz's white Taj Mahal.It is said that after building the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan decided to build another monument in black marbles that would be exactly be identical to the Taj Mahal. This was to act as his burial place, as his own mausoleum. He decided to construct it opposite the bank of the River Yamuna and connect the two monuments by a beautiful decorated bridge. Shah Jahan began to build the tomb, but the war with Aurangzeb (his son) interrupted his plan.A European traveller by the name of Jean Baptiste Tavernier who visited Agra in 1665 first mentioned the idea of Black Taj in his fanciful writings. The writings of Tavernier mention that Shah Jahan began to build his own tomb on the other side of the river but could not complete it as he was deposed by his own son Aurangzeb. However, many modern archaeologists believe this story to be a myth.However, excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discolored white stones that had turned black. A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archaeologists who resconstructed part of the pool in the Moonlight Garden. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan's obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself.
