Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Bhopal, like many historical cities, has two faces: one that you see every day, and the other that is hidden has to be unveiled. Ever wandered about the history of Bhopal’s Taj Mahal? Once echoed with the jingles of the ankle bracelets of belles and their graceful voices, the building today stands lonely and forlorn. It is beside the colossal Taj-ul-Masajid in Shahajahanabad, Bhopal. The Taj Mahal of Bhopal, not to be confused with the one in Agra, is the product of 13 years’ sweat of hundreds of workers – from 1871 to 1884.
Imagine! A sum of Rs 30, 00,000 was spent nearly 140 years ago to raise the edifice, an assortment of British, French, Hindu, Arabic and Mughal architecture. It technically displays the Indo-Saracenic style. Former principal of Calcutta Art College during British rule, Percy Brown, described Indo-Saracenic architecture as a style that combined Islamic, Indian, and Western architectural elements. The purpose of constructing the palace was to match up with the Taj Mahal in Agra.
Sultan Shah Jahan Begum of Bhopal had the palace built. Her daughter, Sultan Jahan Begum, mentioned in Hayaat-e-Shahjahani (Life of Her Highness rendered by B Ghosal into English and published by Times Press in 1926): “Her Highness’s love for erecting large buildings and palaces was in no way less than that her great namesake, Emperor Shahjahan of Delhi. She had three places erected in the Mughal style.” The building, once called Raj Mahal (royal palace), was a rare treat to art lovers.
A British resident advised Begum to name the building after the Taj Mahal in Agra. She rechristened it so. When the work finished, Begum directed her officials to arrange for a three-year celebration, Jashn-e-Taj Mahal. The palace consists of 120 rooms, a hall of mirrors, and the Sawan-Bhado Pavilion, a fountain structure that would stimulate the effect of rain. The palace was built in such a way that the winds rising from the lakes kept it cool in summers. When the country got independence in 1947, bearing the trauma of the partition, Nawab Hamidullah Khan let the Sindhi refugees from Pakistan stay in the palace.
A Bollywood horror movie, Rajkumar Rao starrer, Stree (woman), was shot in the palace. The yarn behind choosing the palace for shooting was interesting, for it is one of the haunted places in Bhopal. The plot of the movie also suited the site. Director Amar Kaushik did not think twice before selecting it. Those who live around this Taj Mahal, say it has become a haunted place, and only a few, undaunted by eerie tales, dare to get inside it. Kaushik, perhaps one of the few who remain unfazed by such stories, had some nightly shoots to add eeriness to the tale. It worked wonders.
According to reports, however undaunted Kaushik may be some of the cast and crew experienced uncanny happenings. A beauty nearly 140 years ago, today the palace is in ruins, after a large part of it fell in 2008. The government of Madhya Pradesh declared it a state heritage monument in 2005. The state archaeology department also restored some parts of the palace which was de-notified in 2011.
A builder from Indore was handed over the property to turn it into a heritage hotel, but the work is yet to start. The palace is still an enigma, and not many visitors travel to this allegedly haunted palace. But when the city creeps into the lap of twilight, the castle breathes out a strange odour of the past. At first, the solitude of the forlorn palace may weigh upon you like a nightmare. Yet, if you continue to look at it, you can hear the jingles of the ankle chains of the belles, their murmurs, and giggles. Honing of vehicles around you slowly grows faint. You feel as though you had left the world of the living to listen to the tales of the palace.
