The Taj8217;s dark secrets 8212; dank rooms, ugly toilets

AGRA, AUG 23: After the reams and tomes in praise of the outer beauty of the Taj Mahal, there's some light on what's locked away underneat...

AGRA, AUG 23: After the reams and tomes in praise of the outer beauty of the Taj Mahal, there8217;s some light on what8217;s locked away underneath it. And it8217;s not half as pleasing to the eye.

The Archaeological Survey of India has dug deep into the innards of this world heritage site, and found three levels of an underground minaret near the monument leading to the Yamuna riverbed. One floor has a series of toilets and the two other levels have chambers where, it8217;s being speculated, labourers in the construction of the Taj were later imprisoned.

The ASI has unearthed 12 rooms and seven toilets in one of the two red minarets on the rectangle that flanks the Taj. According to Komal Anand, Director General DG of the ASI, more indepth investigations will be needed to reveal what they were meant for. 8220;Among other theories, we are working on whether these floors were built before the main structure of the Taj itself, since they are so deep,8221; she says. Research would also reveal why there8217;s no way out of this tower.

Inside the red doors to the first level, secured with a rusted lock, is an uneven space that8217;s nothing like the symmetrical exterior. There are no engravings on the wall here, no plaster. Inside are ugly toilets, seven of them which drain into the Yamuna.

The toilets don8217;t even offer bathing facilities. According to Agra archaeologists, these grotesque bathrooms, squat in the middle of the Taj, could have been for the use of the prisoners.

The floor opens out into a hexagonal room surrounded on all sides by six smaller rooms. There are windows, but they don8217;t let the light in. The rooms are so small they couldn8217;t even accommodate a medium-built person.

Comments the DG, 8220;We inferred that if the ramparts are higher than the rest of the complex, there has to be something underneath it. That is how we stumbled upon it.8221; In the first level itself, at the beginning of the toilets, there was a wall which the British built. 8220;So when we decided to probe beyond the first level, we were pleasantly surprised,8221; says Komal Anand. These discoveries are now being readied for public gaze.

Story continues below this ad

Only one person can go down the stairs, which don8217;t even have fixtures for torches. The steps are at an angle, which, point out experts, ensures that nobody can scamper out in a hurry. The walls are not even wet with seepage from the Yamuna, given the monument8217;s proximity to the riverbed.

Another blind staircase leads to another lower level, which is like a dungeon. Here too, there8217;s a wall that looks more recent than the Mughal structure. Could it lead to more levels, more secrets? The ASI says it is investigating.