Monumental BS

Not me in front of the Taj Mahal. I prefer black leather.

So get this. 


The Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal after she died giving birth to their 14th child. Yeah, I know, why would anyone want 14 children? Either the Emperor was one horny bugger, or Mumtaz was a Goddess in the sack. 


Either way, she clearly wore the pants in the family.

Why else would the man have built the Taj Mahal in her memory? Millions of dollars went into the construction of this monument. Hundreds of people died. And the thing took thirty years to complete - just in time for the Emperor himself to be buried in it alongside his favorite wife. Did you catch that? His favorite wife. He had a half dozen or so of them. Where are their billion-dollar buildings?

I'm not saying the Taj isn't a spectacular piece of architecture, because it is. Really. Under the moonlight. Sunlight. At dawn. In the black of night when I'm dodging the 200 soldiers guarding the place... Persian design at its best, no question about it. And I'm sure the people of Agra, India are pleased - and relieved - the monument is such a tourist attraction. Because let's face it, without the Taj, there's not much going on in Agra. In fact, more than 10,000 people tour the tomb a day. 

Yeah, the tomb. Kinda morbid, don't ya think?

But more alarming is that Mumtaz asked Shah to build the thing. What kind of woman, while on her death bed, says "Hey honey, why don't you immortalize me by building a massive marble tomb?" 

What do you think? True love or monumental BS?

- Jag