Dehradun, December 15
The legend associated with India’s top tourist destination, the Taj Mahal, that the aggrieved Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan got the mausoleum constructed in memory of his beloved Queen Mumtaz may not be true. Treating the monument as one dedicated to romantic devotion might be turning a blind eye to the historical facts.

“It is not a monument of love, but a depiction of self-love built for personal aggrandisement and self-glorification,” maintains Dr WE Begley, an American historian who is now based in Dehradun.

An erudite scholar, who has relied on several Persian texts, continues to be fascinated with the life and times of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

He is working on the collation of the Persian history of Shah Jahan (from birth to death) in six volumes.

In conversation with The Tribune, Dr Begley said that the prevalent legend though has added an aura to the iridescent beauty of the monument.

“The cost of Shah Jahan’s Peacock Throne was double the amount that may have been incurred to build the Taj Mahal that is a perfect monument in all respects.

“It is best to explore other aspects of the monument that is now being increasingly used as part of advertisement campaigns and films. The monument witnesses a large tourist footfall daily. It is a wonder in itself that it should be standing at all,” emphasised the author.

In the same vein, the author rejected the acerbic criticism of essayist Aldous Huxley who had faulted the design of the Taj Mahal as too mundane. “He was in a habit of courting controversies. The monument is a perfect example of layout and design,” said Begley.

In fact, Begley and ZA Desai, authors of “Taj Mahal, The Illuminated Tom”, make this clear in their analysis of the grid system that was employed by the designer to unite the complex horizontally and vertically into a three-dimensional whole.

The author also traced the genesis that led to the myth of Black Taj Mahal. “As far as the Black Taj Mahal myth is concerned, it gained credence in the 17th century after a French traveller discovered the foundation of a building having the same measurements as that of the Taj Mahal. In my opinion, it was to be built as an observation tower.

“The ingenuity of Shah Jahan was at work. The octagonal tank also threw up reflections of the Taj Mahal. Later, pleasure gardens were built around it.

“The Archaeological Survey of India woke up to the importance of the monument only after floods in the late 70s had washed away a major chunk of the foundation,” added Begley.

The author has relied extensively on Persian texts and said that as an historian, one has to dispassionately sift fact from fiction as royal chroniclers had a habit of exaggerating information and glorifying their masters.

“But I must say that Muslims kept detailed genealogy of their families that proved useful, besides the royal ‘farmans’. I am particularly keen on the Mughal newspapers that are now preserved at the Jaipur archives. These can be of immense historical import,” informed the historian.

Dehradun, December 15
As per the report of the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, major towns en route Badrinath, including Devprayag, Srinagar, Gauchar, Karnaprayag and Nandprayag, will developed as potential tourist sites.

Devprayag which is the first of the Panchprayag en route Badrinath. From this point the river is referred as the Ganga. This prayag, which is a confluence of the Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi, is revered immensely by devotees. The Tourism Department is considering this town for further development to provide for additional facilities for tourists. A high-end hotel is also on the chart.

Next to it is Srinagar town, an important settlement in Rudraprayag district. The town is equipped with all infrastructure necessary for an urban settlement. Srinagar is one of the important stopovers for the devotees en route Badrinath. The town offers accommodation facility for all segments of tourists. It is also situated on the banks of the Alaknanda and has a vast potential for development of riverfront.

The district headquarters of Badrinath is Rudraprayag, a place where the route to Kedarnath branches off. Further this place is the confluence point of the Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers. The town, ebbing the pivot location or the two yatra routes, has got major bottlenecks. To overcome the traffic jams, bypasses have been planned, leading to Badrinath and Kedarnath. The road stretches near the town also need slope stabilisation measures through afforestation.

Another important town en route Badrinath is Gauchar, just 34 km ahead of Rudraprayag. Sadly, the town has got minimal tourist infrastructure facilities. This place otherwise offers a good view of the Ganga in the area ahead of the town along the yatra corridor. The existence of airstrip in the town makes it a potential location for the development. As such the plan proposals include the guidelines for the development of area along the road leading to the airstrip and the area surrounding it. Further it is suggested to have a tourist facility for high-end tourists. The complex proposed shall have a meditation centre along with accommodation and ancillary facilities.

Located 11 km from Gauchar township is the Karanprayag settlement. The river from Pindari glacier meets the Alaknanada at Karanprayag. The present road stretch that passes through the town is narrow. The bypass road for the town is near completion. However, the facility mode at the town also needs the bypass to be put in place in the first phase of the plan.

Fourth of Panchprayag is Nandprayag en route Badrinath. The prayag here is the confluence of the Alaknanda and the river flowing from a glacier near the Nandadevi peak. The town is located at a distance of 22 km from Rudraprayag.

Development of the access route to this prayag, formalisation of street sections in the town, development of off-street parking and public conveniences and basic accident relief infrastructure are the developmental initiatives that have been explained in the report.

Last important town en route Badrinath is Joshimath. This is also a main base point for various mountaineering expeditions. The town has the temple where the deity is kept when the temple at Badrinath is closed. From Joshimath town the traffic to the Badrinath route ahead is regulated. The vehicles to Badrinath get queued up at specified timings. The queue stretches to approximately 250 vehicles. The need for a proper parking is felt badly at the juncture.

Considering the challenges, the perception of the existing yatra tourists should be captured and suitable measures for the provision of adequate facilities en route Char Dham should be provided. It is proposed to focus on environmental protection, improvement in connectivity and safety, destination development and improvement, health and other tourist facilities en route Char Dham.

“Focus is on the identification of road stretches with history for landslides, traffic bottlenecks and the existing settlements near these locations. The other infrastructure aspects such as medical facilities, telecommunication facilities, water supply, electricity supply, sanitation facilities and other services/amenities along with the government’s plans for developments of the same need to be considered for successfully achieving the objective,” says Joint Director, UTDB, AK Dwivedi.

For solid waste management along the Char Dham route, settling up of bins, storage sheds and compacters to facilitate collection, segregation and transportation of solid waste is badly required. The rationale given behind this proposed solution in the report prepared by the UTDB is that unless the solid waster factors, particularly different types of plastics, are not collected and segregated in an appropriate manner, they can not be transported for recycling.

Second is installation of highway signages. The proposed solution given in the report is the construction of bilingual signs for distances, directions, warning and tourist signs in a standardised format. The rationale says that signage will help inform the tourists about the location and direction of the destinations while also provide a detailed information about other tourist spots.

Third is the subject of augmentation of airstrip at Gauchar and the creation of a helicopter hub. For this, an approach road, fire station, car parking, strengthened runway surfaces, helicopter hub, public utility, cafeteria, lounge and waiting rooms have been proposed. These structures are required to make the airstrip operational and tourist friendly. At present there is no regular use of airstrip at Gauchar.

Fourth comes the construction of helipads with associated facilities, as choppers are required for easy transportation as well as in cases of emergencies. Badrinath, Kedarnath and Kharsalli have been suggested for the purpose.

Fifth comes metallic crash barrier for safety, providing and erecting W-beam crash barriers on vertical posts for 81,000 m. Roads in the area are prone to accidents which is why this facility is required for the safety of travellers on the Char Dham route. (Concludes)

Dehradun, December 15
Today was indeed a very special day for 54 officers of the NDA/Regular and NCC courses. These veterans reunited for three days to rekindle old memories at their alma mater. From the portals of this academy on December 18, 1960, 193 gentlemen cadets passed out. Within two years, 80 per cent of them fought the war against China in 1962 and also participated in the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971.

The reunion of these veterans for the golden jubilee of the course was held at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) from December 14 to 16. The main events besides the emotional homecoming for all were group photographs with family members, address by the Commandant, a visit to the IMA museum, jubilee dinner and wreath laying at the IMA war memorial, where all officers paid homage to the martyrs who fell in the line of duty and brought honour and glory to this nation and to the IMA.

The highlights of the event remained the heartrending get together and interactions which took place throughout the event. The officers relived the time spent together while training at the IMA. Nostalgia brought tears of affection in most eyes when they recalled the wonderful time spent together in the hay days of their lives. Time indeed stood still for these officers and their wives who got together to relive an era gone by and each one of them could be seen beaming with pride at the contribution they had made to the Indian Army.

Fairly large number rose to higher ranks like Lieutenant General (eight), Army Commander (two), Air Marshall (two) and Rear Admiral (two). Lieutenant-General HM Khanna, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, and Air Marshall, Vinod Patney, GOC-in-C, Western Air Command, took part in the Kargil war.

The course presented a silver bust of Capt Vikram Batra for the Vikram Batra Mess at the IMA.

Dehradun, December 15
Bee Bee XI had a big disappointment today as they lost by one run to Doon Tigers in the Beehive Challenger’s Trophy Inter-District T20 Cricket Tournament being played at Matawala Bagh, Saharanpur Road. In this thriller, Doon Tigers won the toss and chose to bat first. Doon Tigers scored 121 runs losing all their wickets in 20 overs. Abhay Pandey (42) and Pradeep (40) were the main contributors.

Tony and Dabbu of Bee Bee XI bowled good line and length and claimed three wickets each. Gary took two wickets.

In reply, Bee Bee XI fell just one run short of the target. Raju (31), Varun (28) and Nazish (25) fought hard for their side as the team could score 120 runs in 20 overs.

Rajeev, Honey, Pradeep and Abhay took a wicket each and two batsmen got run out. Tomorrow, Abhimanyu Cricket Academy will lock horns with Al-Fateh.

Dehradun, December 15
Rahul scored a brace in the win of Cantt Blues over Western Boys 4-1 in the ongoing Shivalik Football Cup Tournament held here today at the Survey of India.

Cantt Blues played aggressively and gave no chance to their rivals to mount any pressure. Vivek (2nd minute), Rahul (9th and 20th) and Sagar (55th) were the scorers for the winning team.

Guru Sagar (45th) scored the lone goal for Western Boys. Tomorrow, Doon Valley will face Garhwal Sporting.

Dehradun, December 15
Students at DAV PG College could not stop themselves from dancing to the tunes of Narender Singh Negi’s folk songs during the fifth day of the students union week here today. The Garhwali musical day had a bigger attendance than any other day of the fest so far.

The programme commenced with the welcome of chief guest BC Khanduri, former Chief Minister followed by the lighting of the lamp.

Accompanying him were Trivender Singh Rawat, state Agriculture Minister, and Tirath Singh Rawat, senior BJP leader, as guest of honour and special guest, respectively.

Also, Garhwali folk dancers captivated mesmerised the audience with their dances.