There is a saying that love never fades in life. Even if the person no longer exists, their fruitful memories would always be there. A retired UP government official who is currently living in a northern Indian village has built the exact replica of the historic Taj Mahal in the memory of his wife who died due to cancer in 2011.
Hailing from Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh, 77-year-old Faizul Hasan Quadri built the “monument of love” for his wife Tajammuli Begum. The ever so famous Taj Mahal at Agra holds strong history and what really makes the case common in Taj Mahal and the replica is that there is an unconditional love for the women in men.
Memories never fade:
Faizul Hasan Quadri recalls spending some quality time for more than 58 years with his wife. Now she is no more, but the beautiful monument that he built makes him remember the sweet memories that he shared with her in his life. He said that his wife is always there in his thoughts. “We were together for more than 58 years, and love grows with time. Now that she is gone, she is always there in my thoughts,” said Quadri according to BBC News.
And just like the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan’s sumptuous monument that attacks quite a lot of visitors, there was a notable reception from nearby villages to see Mr Quadri’s Taj. “You see, my wife and I were childless, so she always used to say, ‘after we are dead, there will be nobody to remember us, we will be forgotten’. So I promised her that if she were to die before me, I would build such a beautiful mausoleum for her that people would remember her for ages,” Mr Quadri says.
“She was only 14 when we got married, I was about three years older… She was a very soft-spoken, simple, sweet-natured person, and everyone just loved her. When we got married, she was illiterate. Later, I taught her the Urdu language, but she could never write.
“We were together for more than 58 years, and love grows with time. Now that she is gone, she is always there in my thoughts. Similar to the original Taj Mahal, Mr Quadri has left space for his own grave next to his wife’s one and prays that “we should be together in the after life as well,” he says.
Mr Quadri was very much particular about using his own money in building the moment and never did he seek help from others. He said he wanted to finish it off using his own money no matter how long it would take.
“This is not the mausoleum of a saint or a place of worship, this is just my wife’s tomb, and I don’t want to build her memorial using donations from others. I want to finish it using my own money, no matter how long it takes,” he explains.
To meet the construction cost to built the beautiful moment that took shape since the past couple of years, Mr Quadri sold a piece of his farmland, his wife’s jewellery and also used his life’s savings to get the job done. Overall, he has already spent more than $15,000 (£9,872) and says he needs at least $10,000 (£6,581) more to come up with landscape gardens, white-marble exterior and latticed windows to decorate the perfectly-domed monument.
