The Taj Mahal, regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is a major landmark for India on the World map. It is a poem on marble; Guru Rabindranath Tagore described it as "drop of tear on the cheek of time." Its beauty and fascination as a symbol of love are remarkable. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. It is a marvel on marble, and its replicas were given as gifts to visiting heads of state.

Since it was constructed by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, it has been an eyesore to the Hindu right wing. Although its history has been settled by the Archaeological Survey of India, and even the Culture Minister, Mahesh Sharma, stated that it was not a Shiv Temple, in 2017, during the Modi regime. The controversies are deliberately raised to boost the communal divides by the right-wing leaders and ideologues, time and again. Even ASI has time and again clarified that it is a mausoleum and not a temple.

The first major controversy surrounding it was sparked when Yogi Adityanath was appointed the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. His tourism department published a booklet of tourist attractions in UP. This booklet did not mention Taj as one of the tourist attractions, despite nearly 12,000 visitors being attracted to this marvel daily. It attracts 23% of tourists to India. When questioned, he retaliated that Taj does not reflect Indian culture.

Another film by Paresh Rawal is on the way. Its trailer shows that as its dome is lifted, Lord Shiva appears. The forthcoming movie 'The Taj Story,' as its trailers suggest, appears to be an attempt to portray the Taj as Tejo Mahalaya, which was converted into a tomb by Shah Jahan.

The assertion of the forthcoming film is that Taj was a Shiv Temple, Tejo Mahalaya, built in the 4th Century (later revised to say 11th Century) and converted into a mausoleum by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan. The 4th-century temple theory was proposed by a self-proclaimed lawyer, PN Oak, although he never practised law and had no background in history.

Historian Ruchika Sharma rubbishes Oak based on historical evidence, "But Oak, who did not know Farsi, perhaps missed this vital detail that rubbishes his theory of the Taj being a reused 4th-century palace. Historians such as Giles Tillotson also challenged Oak's theory by asserting that the "technical know-how to create a building with the structural form of the Taj simply did not exist in pre-Mughal India." The mystery of the 21 empty rooms at the bottom was also clarified by the ASI. Architecturally, it was designed to stabilise the structure, and these rooms are empty and used for maintenance purposes. This was clarified during the Modi regime itself.

Once the 4th-century theory proved unsuccessful, PN Oak revised it to suggest that it was a 12th-century temple. Sharma continues, "Yet, Oak armed himself with make-believe and propaganda and petitioned the Supreme Court of India in July 2000, that the Taj was constructed by Raja Paramar Dev's chief minister Salakshan in the 12th century and was therefore a Hindu structure, 'Tejo Mahalaya,' and not made by the Mughals.

Oak went to the Supreme Court to make his point, but the highest court rebuffed his argument, lacking historical evidence. His central argument pertained to the architectural aspects of the tomb. The dome at the top, the inverted lotus at the top, and the 21 empty rooms at the bottom. Similarly, later on, Amarnath Mishra approached the Allahabad High Court to petition that this was built by Chandela King Parmadi, which was also dismissed by the court in 2005.

There are detailed accounts available about the construction of the Taj from impeccable historical sources. Peter Mundy and Tavernier, two travellers, mention that during their visit to India, they came to know of Shah Jahan's grief and his determination to build a grand structure in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan made grand plans, involving architects headed by a Muslim, Ustad Ahmad Lahori, and his chief associate, a Hindu architect. Badshahnama, the biography of Shah Jahan, provides a detailed account of the entire process. The group of people put together to plan and execute it.

The land chosen for the Taj had belonged to Raja Jaisingh. There are two versions of the process of acquiring this. One claims that it was procured by paying due compensation, while the other mentions that Raja Jaisingh gifted it to the emperor, as they were on friendly terms.

The architecture of the Taj is an excellent reflection of the syncretic traditions which prevailed here. The double dome structures were introduced by Mughal architects; the Lal Qila (Red Fort) and Humayun's Tomb are other notable examples of this architectural style. Hindu temples featured triangular superstructures. Later domes were also introduced in temples. Architecture is not an exclusive process, and the mixture of architectural styles is part of the process of civilisations.

Twenty thousand artisans were hired. As the Mughal administration used to have a construction division, the marvellous structures of North India are not a flash in the pan. Rumours have been circulating that the hands of these workers were cut. There is no credible source to substantiate this claim.

The account books and documents of Shah Jahan's time provide us with detailed accounts of the expenditure incurred to build the Taj. The ledgers record the amounts spent on purchasing marble from Makrana and the wages paid to the workers. Some prevalent Hindu motifs were incorporated into the structure, as Hindu architects and workers were involved in the construction process.

In a lighter vein, one should mention PN Oak's fertile and banal imagination, which posits that the whole of Western civilisation has roots in Hindu culture. For him, Christianity is Krishna Niti; Vatican comes from Vatika and Rome from Ram! Despite his ideas being based on such superficialities devoid of any historical evidence, he continued to publish books and small booklets, which were circulated in RSS shakhas to propagate his theories and become part of social understanding.

Most of the points raised by the film (as shown in the trailers) on the Taj Mahal were clarified a decade ago. Yet, the idea of reviving all this is a political one, as it helps the Hindu nationalist agenda of spreading hate against Mughal rulers and thereby reflects on today's Muslims.

This film is yet another propaganda film in the series of Kashmir Files, Bengal Files, Kerala Story, and so many like these whose aim is to intensify right-wing propaganda. This film adds to that and will be yet another tool for the divisiveness and hate that currently prevail in contemporary India.