In a unique gesture of appreciation and love, an Indian man built a scaled-down replica of the iconic Taj Mahal as a “monument of love” for his wife of 27 years.
The original Taj Mahal, the most famous building in all of India, was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to their 14th child. It’s one of the world’s most iconic symbols of love, so one businessman from Madhya Pradesh decided that it was the perfect inspiration for his own tribute to his spouse. He paid a reported 20 million rupees ($260,000) to have a construction team build a four-bedroom replica of the Taj Mahal, complete with intricate latticework, minarets, and a luxurious interior fit for a queen.
Three years ago, Anand Prakash Chouksey, a 52-year-old businessman from Burhanpur city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, set out to offer his wife the ultimate proof of love. initially, he wanted to build a home 80-feet-high in her honor, but when that project got rejected by the local authorities, he settled on a scaled-down replica of the famous Taj Mahal.
To make sure their version of the white marble mausoleum incorporated all the main elements, the couple traveled to Agra on a number of occasions and also used a lot of 3D plans available on the internet. While their version couldn’t have all the features of the original, the plan was to make it as similar as possible.
Nestled deep inside Mr. Chouksey’s sprawling 50-acre property in Burhanpur, the Taj Mahal replica consists of four bedrooms, one kitchen, a library, a meditation room complete, and an entrance hall complete with marble columns, a curving staircase, and a gilded ceiling. Because the building is meant to serve as a home, the interior doesn’t copy that of the original and is not strictly Islamic in design.
As you can imagine, the Burhanpur Taj Mahal has been attracting a lot of attention, and Anand says people regularly venture onto his property to see it up close. He doesn’t stop them, as his monument is a gift to the local community as much as to his wife.
“A lot of people have also started to do their pre-wedding shoots here,” Mr. Chouksey told the BBC. “I don’t stop them because, in our town, we are a close-knit community where everyone knows everyone. So, my house is open for all.”
“As this Taj Mahal is located in our school premises, visitors are allowed in the school hour. I wish that this becomes a center of tourism,” Anand told Economic Times.
It’s safe to say that Anand Prakash Chouksey, has set a very high bar for husbands all over the world. Flowers on your wedding anniversary are nice and all, but how does one beat a replica of the Taj Mahal?
Interestingly, this is not the first time someone builds a Taj Mahal in honor of their spouse. In 2013, Faizul Hasan Kadari, a retired post-master from India, made international news headlines after using his life savings to build a replica of the iconic mausoleum as a tribute to his late wife, who had passed away two years earlier.
