Indian businessman builds scale model of Taj Mahal replica as home for his wife

A businessman in the western Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has built his home as a scaled down replica of the Taj Mahal and dedicated it to his wife as a symbol of his love.

The Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site was built by Mughal emperor Shahjahan in the 17^th century in the northern Indian city of Agra in memory of his wife Mumtaz who died while giving birth to their 14^th child.

For Anand Prakash Chouksey, 52, it was his home town of Burhanpur that inspired him to build his own version of the mausoleum of love.

“Mumtaz actually died here in Burhanpur. It was only a few days after her death that her body was taken to Agra and ultimately buried in the Taj Mahal,” Mr Chouksey told the The Independent.

The white marble tomb, considered to be an eternal symbol of love, is one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture. It is arguably India’s biggest tourist attraction and has had thousands of visitors everyday including foreign dignitaries before the pandemic.

“The Taj Mahal too was supposed to be built here, but later due to technical difficulties Shahjahan decided to build it in Agra. So, this monument is my tribute to the town as well as my wife Manjusha,” he added.

The scaled down Taj Mahal is one-third the size of the original. It is a sprawling two-storey, four-bedroom house spread across 8,000 square feet. The built-in interior areas of the house are around 3,500 square feet and includes a special meditation room for his wife, along with a sprawling living room and dining room. A separate garden has also been constructed on the premises.

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Mr Chouksey said it took three years to build. “Like the original Taj Mahal, we have also used Makrana marbles from Rajasthan to build our house. We also brought artisans from Indore and Kolkata to come and work on the carvings inside the house,” he said.

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The house is a part of a sprawling campus, which includes the Chouksey’s house, a private hospital, and a school.

“Since Burhanpur is a small town, it cost me only about Rs 2-2.5 crores (around £250,000) to build this house. This is as much as a three-bedroom house would cost in big cities like Mumbai for instance,” he said.

For Mr Chouksey, the house represents his love for his wife of 27 years. “My childhood was spent in poverty but I was good at studies. So was my wife.”

“Whatever we have achieved today, whether it is the school or the hospital or this house, it is because of our hard work. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without my wife. She is the biggest contributor to my success,” he said.

With incidents of religious hate and bigotry on the rise in India, Mr Chouksey said his new house will serve as a symbol of love for all.

“Our message is one of love. We only want to share love and spread the message that humans should love each other and not fight in the name of religion and caste,” he said.

“The colour white too gives the same message of peace and love. We have over 1300 people working in both our school and hospital. We have children from 17 states coming to study in our school. We don’t look at their religion, before admitting them into our school or hospital.”

“India has no dearth of natural resources or talent. The only thing stopping us from progressing in the world is that we stand divided. We need to start looking ahead and not dwell in history or the past,” he added.