The Taj Mahal, a symbol of love and one of the Seven Wonders of the World is an iconic structure in India. Emperor Shah Jahan’s love for his wife Mumtaz was such that he built the magnificent marble domes in her memory after her demise.
Over the years, the monument has been a source of inspiration for many lovers, noblemen, royalty, and architects who have picked the architecture and replicated it in several sites across the world.
While some are intended to be scale models or otherwise to be more or less faithful copies, others are designed with mild or extreme interpretations of the Taj’s architecture adapted to serve other purposes.
Take a look at these Domes and Minarets.
1. Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad, Maharashtra
Bibi ka Maqbara, November 2017 – An enormous marble structure dedicated to “the chip on one’s shoulder”, i.e., trying to live up to a father’s legacy! Over 350 years since the largest monument attributable to Aurangzeb was built. Well maintained and easily accessible #DakkhaniTaj pic.twitter.com/OmnYCzvaqr
— Jaydutt Kulkarni (@JD_Kulkarni) July 2, 2020
Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad, also called the ‘Taj of the Deccan’ was built by Shah Jahan’s own son, Aurangzeb as an attempt to outdo the original Taj. It was built in the memory of his first and chief wife Dilras Banu Begum (posthumously known as Rabia-ud-Daurani) and is considered to be a symbol of Aurangzeb’s conjugal fidelity.
2. Maqbara Yadgare Mohabbat Tajammuli Begum
Sweet: Retired postmaster builds mini Taj Mahal to immortalise love for wifehttp://t.co/YH2t7bv5x9pic.twitter.com/VxnS1AIyXh
v @NewsEighteen— Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) August 16, 2015
Very few people know that it was in Bulandshahar where Mumtaz took her last breath while she was in labor, giving birth to her 14th child.
The Mini Taj Mahal was built in 2011 by a retired postal worker from Bulandshahr (Uttar Pradesh), Faizul Hasan Qadri, in fond memory of his beloved spouse who died of cancer.
3. Shahzadi Ka Maqbara, Uttar Pradesh
The Shahzadi Ka Maqbara is within the Chota Imambara complex in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. This small-scale replica was built in the year 1660, in memory of Princess Zinat Asiya, daughter of the third emperor of Awadh, King Mohammad Ali Shah Bahadur.
4. Taj Mahal Replica in Umerkot, Pakistan
#TeamSoch visits Sindh’s Umerkot district where local, Mr Palli has built his own version of the Taj Mahal in remembrance of his late wife.
See beautiful images of Taj Mahal of #Umerkot https://t.co/HgFiVAScyM @SochVideos #ManojGenaniPhotography pic.twitter.com/Mvl61lLNUS— Genani Manoj (@genanimanoj) January 11, 2021
A man, Abdul Rasool Pali from Umerkot Sindh, has made a replica of the historic Taj Mahal in memory of his 49-year-old wife, Maryam.
Rest there are several other replicas such as – Taj Mahal Bangladesh, Taj Arabia, Taj of Bangalore, Trump Taj Mahal, and more that has been made in the spitting image of the world wonder. Yet the ones listed above have been chosen on the basis of its true essence: love.