A 52-year-old man in India has built a replica of the famous Taj Mahal, as an expression of his love for his wife.
Anand Prakash Chouksey, who owns a hospital, built the RM845,000 replica which is about one third the size of the original with the help of artisans from Agra, the place where the Taj Mahal still stands.
Anand’s son said it took three years to build the replica which involved a few cycles of “build and demolish” to get the perfect scale. Some of the arches were built three to four times.
Anand’s wife was also involved and was occasionally consulted and supervised the building.
Anand Prakash Chouksey and his wife
“My wife’s only request was a meditation room as she’s a spiritual woman,” Anand said, adding that he asked the engineers to make the meditation room a priority and claimed that it is the best location in the house.
Aside from the meditation room, the replica also has four bedrooms and a library.
The original Taj Mahal is about 800km away from the replica in Burhanpur.
“We used marble from Makrana to build the house, which is the same that was used to build the Taj Mahal,” he said.
According to reports in RTE News, Chouksey plans to mount an Indian flag on top of the main dome and add symbols from India’s most popular religions to the four minarets surrounding his new manor.
“We want to send a message of peace and religious harmony. There is a lot of hate around. Love solves all problems in life and Taj Mahal is a symbol of that.”
