Taj Legends - The Italian Architect of Taj |
Was the main architect of Taj, an Italian jeweler named Geronimo Veroneo? Though the claim was never proved, but it certainly created a lot of controversies. The claim has been mostly advocated by the European writers though there is not much in support of this theory in India.
According to the story, unwilling to allow the native artisans all the credit for excellence in creating the most magnificent building in the world, Father Manrique in 1641 advanced the preposterous claim of the Italian jeweler Geronimo Veroneo as architect of Taj Mahal. Father Manrique was an Augustinian Friar who came to Lahore for the release of one Father Antony who was captured by the Mughals. And yes, there was an Italian jeweler by the name of Geronimo Veroneo, who lived in Agra for some time. If ever this Italian jeweler was really commissioned, he was overawed by the mammoth work and cost, and wisely ran away to Surat in 1632 when the project had just started. Shahjahan had asked Veroneo, says Manrique, to spend two crores. The jeweler who only designed necklaces and bracelets proved thoroughly incompetent for the royal project and vanished from the scene, escaping the Emperor's ire but providing much mirth and chuckles to the native artisans. Even if we accept that Veroneo had a part in designing the Taj, it is somehow unthinkable to have only one designer for this great monument. In most probability, he was just one of the many who worked on Taj Mahal at that time.
Veroneo later died on the way while he was going to Lahore and buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery of Agra. There had for long been a belief that this architect of the Taj lay buried in the cemetery, but no one knew where. Then in 1945, Father Hyacinth, Superior Regular of Agra scraped the moss of a tombstone, revealing the simple epitaph: "Here lies Jerome Veronio, who died at Lahore."
|
|
|
|
History
of Agra
