Taj's underground chamber suffers neglect, visitors see red
Friday, April 20, 2018 IST
In mid-April, on the occasion of Shah Jahan's birth anniversary, visitors to the Taj Mahal were allowed to see the graves of the Mughal emperor and his wife Mumtaz Mahal - the real ones, located in a sealed chamber beneath the replicas on display all year round.
Devotees who came to offer prayers discovered that the intricate marble inlay work on the graves had blackened after years of neglect. They were angry.
They asked the Archeological Survey of India to begin restoring the graves - immediately. ASI officials told them the chamber which houses them would be cleaned soon.
But the restoration may take a back seat, considering that much work needs to be done to repair small minarets and domes that were damaged in a recent storm (and that the underground chamber is rarely opened for anyone except VIPs).
The destruction caused by the storm indicates that structural erosion is eating away at the Taj from the inside. The iron rods holding its outer cladding of sandstone and marble to the walls have been corroding for 400 years.
Due to high air pollution levels in Agra, they've now lost the strength to keep a grip on the stones.
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