eSign Document for Procurement Simple

Simple procurement is the process of acquiring goods and services efficiently. airSlate SignNow streamlines this process by allowing businesses to easily send, sign, and manage documents, ensuring that procurement activities are quick and hassle-free.

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Key features of airSlate SignNow that enhance simple procurement include customizable templates, real-time tracking, and automated reminders. These features help businesses efficiently manage their procurement documents while reducing the risk of errors and delays.

Yes, airSlate SignNow integrates seamlessly with various procurement tools and software. This capability allows businesses to streamline their workflows further, making simple procurement more efficient by connecting all necessary systems.

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Absolutely! airSlate SignNow is designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes, including small businesses. Its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing make it an ideal choice for those seeking to simplify procurement without exorbitant costs.

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I'm glad you guys asked me to answer this question.I don’t know about other firms but I can tell you my roles and responsibilities as a Senior Contracts Engineer in Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (India)There is so much to take care of..I’ll give you a gist.1. Execute proper contracts appreciation and ensure adherence to contractual conditions:We are normally provided with a hard copy of Contract Document which consists of thousands of pages.Whenever we need important clauses like variations/payments/advances etc, we can’t search the entire document. So, we prepare a Contracts Appreciation Document (we simply call it CAD).We enlist all the important clauses and streamline them in different schedules. I am not supposed to say anything more than that. This helps us in finding important clauses whenever required.This is the first page of what I have prepared for the project I am currently working on. (Got it signed by the Vice President & HOD Contracts - HCC Ltd when I was a Management Trainee. Big achievement indeed)It took three months for preparation and 3 weeks for Approval.2. Identify risks and develop risk mitigation plans:Detailed analysis of Risk is done at different levels of Project Cycle likea. Pre Qualification Stage,b. Tendering/Bidding Stage,c. Project Planning and Procurement Stage,d. Execution and Monitoring Stage,e. Project Closure and Claims stage.f. Project Operation and maintenance stage.etc.3. Develop and maintain client relationship:Even if you have a legitimate claim, client will not accept your claim. You can’t do anything without client’s support.So, we maintain good relationship with the Client.4. Ensure timely & accurate work measurement, billing, certification and collection:Need to keep a track on interim payment schedule. Check the deductions(Taxes, Interests on advance taken) and advances (Material advance, Mobilization Advance etc), Bank Guarantee expiry details etc.Escalation calculations for steel, cement, labor, fuel and other commodities. Principal and interest deductions in the RA Bills. I personally love this Math part of my job.5. Ensure identification, documentation and submission of claims & variations.This is the most interesting part. Refer all the related documents and IS codes to find a loophole in the contract document and claim extra time and cost.6. Ensure documentation and preparation for Dispute Review Boards & arbitration:Ok… Dispute!? Here we come :D7. Draft contractual letters to get them approved by Project Manager and send them to Client, Subcontractors, Government bodies etc.This is the most boring part. I had to sit for 3 weeks to draft a letter (14 pages) for Extension of Time. (Biggest career achievement so far- Awarded with 6 months project Extension based on a strong claim)8. Finalize sub contractor engagement:Creating subcontractor work orders, finalizing their rates and their scope of work etc and ensure validation of subcontractor bills as per contract conditions, including reconciliation of material/ quantities using SAP.9. Ensuring of various contemporious records are correctly maintained by various departments as required in terms of the contract provisions.10. Recording hindrances and rescheduling physical and financial milestones as per the delay analysis using MSP.etc.There are many other roles but we concentrate more on these.(We get to do planning, scheduling, micro-scheduling too). Interesting job right !?If you need anything in specific, drop in a message.I would be happy to help :)Follow this for more:Opportunities for Civil Engineers in IndiaIf you wish to learn about construction in simple terms, you can follow this blog.BUDDING CREATORSThis blog is a result of my learning and experience in construction field.

We need to understand this question, not only from point of view of two ( Supreme Court and Rahul Gandhi) but from that of four, the supreme court, Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi and citizens.When Supreme Court ruled that it won't go into prices of Rafale but the decision making process of the government, it found decision making process an appropriate. This order was on one of the petition.By another review petition, when the petitioners placed before the court certain secret documents which were published by N Ram of The Hindu newspaper, the government told court that since these documents are stolen, they shouldn't be relied upon. The government said it would order criminal proceedings under official Secret Act which later they cancelled. The Hon Court has now unanimously held that these leaked documents would be held as an admissible evidence. This means, Rafale proceedings are still going on and matter is subjudiced.I have gone through the speech of Rahul Gandhi. In first part he said. Mr Narendra Modi, before media, had claimed clean cheat. Frankly, his supporters on Quora too had celebrated the clean chit.In second part of interview, Rahul Gandhi said the court found Mr. Modi guilty of corruption.Both Mr. Modi and Rahul Gandhi are wrong. Neither the court has given clean chit to Mr. Modi as claimed by Mr Modi nor found Mr Modi guilty as claimed by Mr Rahul Gandhi. Thats politics.What legal position exist as of now, is that Rafale case has been again reopened by the Supreme Court. This opinion could be treated as opinion of neutral citizens.

E-commerce at AgartalaYou can sell online from Agartala and many people's are already on it. If you are selling goods that comes under tax then first procure TIN, VAT, CST registration by providing necessary documents.Official link of online application for Tripura is http://web4.kar.nic.in/tripuraer...Also open a current bank account in your firm name with PAN card, Aadhaar and other documents instructed by bank officials. After that you can sign up at various sellers zone. Some of those are given below for ready reference.https://sellercentral.amazon.inSell Online on FlipkartSell Products...

There’s the legal aspect and the simple reality aspect.I won’t really get into the reality aspect as if you don’t get reality then there isn’t much point in the debate. the reality is that Taiwan right now is known as the Republic of China, that’s effectively an sovereign state that control the island and some outer island. The problem is that the Republic of China is also the official government of China until it was kicked out of the UN in the 70s and effectively controlled China until 1949. So the reality is that the two sides are separate but it is the result of an unresolved civil war.Meanwhile, if one does not knows that any state exist not because people say it does or not , instead of actually holding territory with a functional government. then one could make an argument that Israel doesn’t exist while Tibet IS an independent state. which obviously is idiotic.The legal aspect, quite frankly, one would have to suspend a lot of realities to make a realistic argument on Taiwan being an independent state away from China. The common argument presented paints an extremely one sided view of the happenings toward the end of WW2 to it’s immediate aftermath . only saying the one or two things in their favor while ignoring the ton of counter points against them.The primary legal argument rises from article 2 in the Treat of San FrancsicoArticle 2(a) Japan recognizing the independence of Korea, renounces all right, title and claim to Korea, including the islands of Quelpart, Port Hamilton and Dagelet.(b) Japan renounces all right, title and claim to Formosa and the Pescadores.(c) Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands, and to that portion of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired sovereignty as a consequence of the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.(d) Japan renounces all right, title and claim in connection with the League of Nations Mandate System, and accepts the action of the United Nations Security Council of April 2, 1947, extending the trusteeship system to the Pacific Islands formerly under mandate to Japan.(e) Japan renounces all claim to any right or title to or interest in connection with any part of the Antarctic area, whether deriving from the activities of Japanese nationals or otherwise.(f) Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Spratly Islands and to the Paracel Islands.Notice that the part on Formosa (Taiwan.) only says that Japan renounced the right to Taiwan, it didn’t actually say it return it to China, and that’s basically the core issue. The spin would be that since it didn’t implicitly say that they return it to China, thus it didn’t. so it’s just an unclaimed land that the ROC then illegally occupied.The problem is that suspend a lot of realities and reading a lot into assumptions. one could say that this may have been an conspiracy of the US and Japan to leave an open end to where there’s that possibility, especially given that in the following Treaty of Taipei between the ROC and Japan also did not explicitly say state the sovereignty of Taiwan as well. the problem is that if you examine the real actions and also the things leading up to all this. this argument become a lot more difficult to hold up .The most important part to note in the lead up to the end of the war, the Instrument of Surrender. which the Japanese officially signed.( remember this ? the document the Japanese was signing was the Instrument of surrender.)So what did this document say? it’s very short, but one just really need to look at the first paragraph.We, acting by command of and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, hereby accept the provisions set forth in the declaration issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, China, and Great Britain on 26 July 1945 at Potsdam, and subsequently adhered to by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which four powers are hereafter referred to as the Allied Powers.We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under the Japanese control wherever situated.We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated and the Japanese people to cease hostilities forthwith, to preserve and save from damage all ships, aircraft, and military and civil property and to comply with all requirements which may be imposed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by agencies of the Japanese Government at his direction.We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Headquarters to issue at once orders to the Commanders of all Japanese forces and all forces under Japanese control wherever situated to surrender unconditionally themselves and all forces under their control.We hereby command all civil, military and naval officials to obey and enforce all proclamations, and orders and directives deemed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to be proper to effectuate this surrender and issued by him or under his authority and we direct all such officials to remain at their posts and to continue to perform their non-combatant duties unless specifically relieved by him or under his authority.We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government and their successors to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith, and to issue whatever orders and take whatever actions may be required by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by any other designated representative of the Allied Powers for the purpose of giving effect to that Declaration.We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters at once to liberate all allied prisoners of war and civilian internees now under Japanese control and to provide for their protection, care, maintenance and immediate transportation to places as directed.The authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate these terms of surrender.Signed at TOKYO BAY, JAPAN at 0903 I on the SECOND day of SEPTEMBER, 1945.So obviously, the entire surrender basically say “we accept the Potsdam declaration.”Ok, then what was the Potsdam declaration? The most important part one should know in regards to Taiwan is simply.(8) The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.( The later part of this is actually tricky since it leaves open end that Okinawa’s status is really undetermined.)But clearly this says that the Potsdam declaration’s basis was the Cairo declaration. then what did the Declaration say?President Roosevelt, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Prime Minister Mr. Churchill, together with their respective military and diplomatic advisers, have completed a conference in North Africa.The following general statement was issued:"The several military missions have agreed upon future military operations against Japan. The Three Great Allies expressed their resolve to bring unrelenting pressure against their brutal enemies by sea, land, and air. This pressure is already rising."The Three Great Allies are fighting this war to restrain and punish the aggression of Japan. They covet no gain for themselves and have no thought of territorial expansion. It is their purpose that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the first World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed. The aforesaid three great powers, mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea, are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent."With these objects in view the three Allies, in harmony with those of the United Nations at war with Japan, will continue to persevere in the serious and prolonged operations necessary to procure the unconditional surrender of Japan."………. well then if your going to deny this, then for all intent and purpose you must deny the Potsdam and thus also the instrument of surrender.So for the legal argument of Taiwan having not being returned to the ROC, then the argument would also have to logically conclude that Japan is still at war with the Allies. since the instrument of surrender is null.Obviously that’s just insanity. and even if you go down that logical path then the result is still not a independent Taiwan, but that Taiwan belongs to Japan.

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While there are improvements over the Indian Ministry of Defense Request For Information documents I’ve read in the past, there are still major red flags. To make things simple, I’m going to offer a section by section analysis of all specifications featured in Part I of the RFI. I’m ignoring most of Part II since it’s a questionnaire intended to be the response procedure for the RFI which is irrelevant for the purposes of this question. Use the following link if you want to look at the RFI in its entirety: https://indianarmy.nic.in/writer...PART – I : OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS AND BROAD TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS3. Indian Army seeks a CQB Carbine with 5.56mm Calibre with to achieve following broad characteristics:-5.56×45mm NATO is a legitimate and logical chambering choice for a carbine intended for close quarters combat. This is a good start.(a) Effective Range. Minimum 200 meters.This is a specification which any 5.56x45mm carbine should be able to fulfill. It’s also realistic since almost all non-specialized infantry combat happens within 300 meters and a majority of infantry combat happens with 50 - 100 meters. The MoD made a good decision by specifying a minimum effective range of 200 meters.(b) Accuracy. The CQB Carbine should be capable of achieving accuracy better than four Minutes of Angle up to a range of minimum 200 meters.This is another reasonable specification which should be easy for 5.56x45mm carbines to fulfill. Since four minutes of angle at a range of 200 meters is about 20 centimeters of dispersion, that means that the carbines should be mechanically capable of always hitting an adult in the chest at 200 meters. That’s a good expectation.(c) Reliability. The CQB Carbine shall be reliable in its operation as per international standards for reliability and withstand sustained fire.This specification is useless. Countries write and tailor their standards to meet their individual needs. The MoD needs to specify the minimum acceptable mean number of rounds between stoppages and failures. The minimum acceptable barrel life also needs to be specified as does weapon reliability in various orientations.Similarly, saying that the carbine needs to “withstand sustained fire” is unacceptable. All 5.56x45mm weapons eventually fail catastrophically under sustained fire. That’s not the fault of the cartridge, it’s simply recognition of the fact that weapons need to be made of physical materials and those materials will eventually fail from the heat and pressure generated by sustained fire. The MoD needs to specify the minimum number of rounds the carbines should be able to fire within a certain period of time with a certain type of ammunition before something on the carbine catastrophically fails.(d) Weight. The CQB Carbine should be as light as possible, preferably less than 3 Kgs.This is a great specification. 3 kilograms is a good weight limit to impose on a carbine in 5.56x45mm since it makes the carbines easy to carry and handle. By leaving it a little bit open, weight becomes an area where manufacturers can compete with each other.(e) Modular design.Modularity is a good thing. It lets armorers replace damaged components and make incremental improvements easily. This is another area where manufacturers can compete with each other.(f) Sight. The CQB Carbine should have luminous tipped integrated flip up Open Sight, Reflex Sight and Visible and Invisible laser Spot Designator either as an independent system or integrated with the reflex sight.This is another thing the MoD got right. Reflex sights make life easier for soldiers because reflex sights allow for fast target acquisition, put the aiming point and target on the same focal plane, are usable at night, are viewable at almost any angle, and have no eye relief issues. A pair of flip up night sights makes for a good backup if the reflex sight becomes damaged or fails. Though the visible laser sight isn’t of the greatest value, the IR laser will allow for the carbines to be used effectively with night vision equipment.(g) Compatibility with all modern sights and accessories and provision for mounting the same on picatinny rails.I would have tied this in to the modularity requirement, but it’s not really a big deal that the requirement for sight compatibility and Picatinny rails is separate.(h) The CQB Carbine shall be capable of providing the desired performance across all spectrums of employment in the Indian terrain and climatic conditions.This is wholly unacceptable and looks incredibly lazy. The MoD needs to specify the temperature extremes which it wants the carbines to operate in. The MoD also needs to specify whether it wants the carbines to pass blowing dust, drop, ice, mud, rain, salt fog, or water submersion tests. For each of the tests which the MoD wants the carbines to pass, it is imperative for the MoD to specify the exact testing procedures and protocols which will be used.(j) The CQB Carbine shall comply with the laid down MIL Standards and other International Standards in vogue.If the MoD wants to apply United States Military Standards or anything else to Indian weapon procurement, that’s fine. But, like I’ve said up above, the particular standards which the MoD wants to apply need to be named. The failure to do so displays incompetence.4. Tentative date of issue of RFP is August 2017. Total Quantity required is approximately 2,00,000 CQB Carbine out of which the immediate requirement is of approximately 44,000 CQB Carbines. The approximate quantity 44,000 CQB Carbines should be delivered within four (04) months to twenty four months (24) from the day of signing of the contract. The vendors should confirm if they can deliver requisite quantity of CQB Carbine within the stipulated timeframe.I don’t know enough about where equipment is at in its service life cycle to have an opinion on the number of carbines which the MoD has requested. That being said, I think it’s interesting to compare the procurement numbers in this RFI for carbines to the procurement numbers in a previous RFI for “Assault Rifles”. The number of weapons which have to be immediately delivered on the carbine contract are lower than the 65000 on the “Assault Rifle” contract. However, the total quantity of weapons to be delivered on the carbine contract is higher than the 185000 on the “Assault Rifle” contract.Before I say anything else, I would like to say that I haven’t forgotten section (i). Apparently the Indian Ministry of Defense doesn’t use (i) in lettered sections of their documents in order to avoid confusion with numerals.Before I go on, it’s important for me to air some of my thoughts on two other RFIs issued by the Indian Ministry of Defense for context.With the “Assault Rifle” RFI I mentioned up above, I have to put the word assault rifle in quotations because the document started off by calling for rifles chambered for 7.62×51mm NATO. Assault rifles, by definition, do not use 7.62x51mm NATO and other similar cartridges because they generate too much recoil to be useful for automatic fire in the hands of most soldiers. Intermediate cartridges have much gentler recoil and are easier for soldiers to use overall. The 7.62x51mm rifles which the RFI specified would be something of a step backwards for the Indian Army in my opinion. There could be legitimate reasons for making that decision, but those reasons are not remotely close to the reasons cited by the Indian Ministry of Defense.In a different RFI asking for sniper rifles, the specifications this time called for a bolt action rifle chambered for .338 Lapua Magnum. That’s great for a western sniper. Western snipers are highly trained individuals who work in small teams and use specialized rifles which are very effective at long range but don’t necessarily need be capable of rapid fire. But, based on what I’ve read, the RFI was supposed to be procuring replacements the Indian Army’s Russian SVD rifles. In western terminology, the SVD is a designated marksman rifle. Most Indian Army snipers are what the west would categorize as designated marksmen; soldiers armed with accurate, rapid firing rifles who are embedded in a regular infantry unit to extend that unit’s effective range. Right now, Indian Army snipers have the right type of weapon for their role. But the RFI was requesting what would be a long, heavy, slow firing rifle which would be inadequate for the duties performed by Indian Army snipers. In my opinion, this problem arose because the Indian MoD looked at western sniper rifles and wrote an RFI based on that instead of taking the time to understand that there was a critical conceptual difference between western snipers and Indian Army snipers which wouldn’t be immediately clear due to a lack of linguistic distinction.Considering how badly wrong the MoD has started RFIs in the past, this RFI for carbines represents a signNow improvement. Just the fact that the document started with a valid premise actually gave me some measure of hope for this RFI.Unfortunately, the lack of minimum specifications in key areas crushed that hope. When a manufacturer looks at an RFI like this, they want to see an explicitly defined minimum requirement for every single specification. That minimum gives the manufacturer a goal to aim for and exceed. Having a minimum for everything also gives every manufacturer who responds to the RFI the expectation that there will be a level playing field.When there aren’t minimums, that makes manufacturers extremely wary. Historically, when minimum requirements aren’t explicitly defined, it means that the process is going to be unfair and expensive. There have been military weapon trials in the past where the worst quality weapon submitted to the trial was the one which was ultimately adopted because the weapon was indigenously produced and the only way that weapon could make the cut for the trial is if there weren’t minimum requirements to be met. There have also been military weapon trials which start without minimum requirements, but partway through the competition minimum requirements are added and manufacturers have to redesign their weapons to meet the new requirements at signNow additional cost. I guarantee that experienced firearms manufacturers think those are likely possibilities when they see RFIs issued by the Indian Ministry of Defense.Another problem specific to India is indigenous production. Everybody understands that indigenous production of military arms is desirable in case the country become diplomatically isolated for any number of reasons. For some countries, indigenous production works well. For example, the Australians do a fine job manufacturing the Steyr AUG and FN Minimi at Lithgow Small Arms Factory. India’s ability for competent indigenous production is something which many western countries are leery of. Many INSAS rifles show poor workmanship. The problems which have been seen in the development of the Trichy assault rifle suggest that Indian engineers might not have a proper awareness of firearms engineering history since the same problems arose in the development of the German StG 44, a mechanically similar assault rifle from World War II. Manufacturers which would license the production of their firearms to India would be taking a big risk. If the Indian factories screw up and make poor quality weapons under license, there’s a real possibility that firearm manufacturer’s reputation will be tarnished because of a perception that the weapons might have been poorly designed in the first place. Manufacturers don’t like risks like that.The M16 rifle’s reputation was maligned simply because ammunition being loaded with the incorrect type of powder. Image Source: (File:CH-53 landing at Defense Attaché Office compound, Operation Frequent Wind.jpg)If I was in a position to do so, I would make the following recommendations to the Indian Ministry of Defense:Make sure every specification has an explicit minimum requirement so manufacturers take the Indian Ministry of Defense seriously. Current practices are unacceptable and add to a perception that the MoD is incompetent.Remove all mention of indigenous production from the RFI’s response procedure.Drop the RFI for 7.62x51mm “Assault Rifles” entirely in favor of the RFI for 5.56x45mm “CQB Carbines”. 5.56x45mm works just fine for infantry combat use with the correct ammunition.Stop using 5.56x45mm SS109 ammunition. SS109 was never designed to be used in short barrels and suffers from degraded terminal performance in carbines. 55 grain M193 ball has outstanding terminal performance on soft tissue. The United States had great success with the bullet design in Vietnam and the Israeli Defense Force currently uses M193 as the primary ammunition for their Tavor rifles with great success. Although there are other potential candidates for the replacing SS109 ammunition in Indian arsenals, M193 is not only the least expensive replacement option for SS109, but M193 is also cheaper, simpler, and less resource intensive to produce than SS109. M193 is also unrestricted by United States International Traffic in Arms Regulations, unlike some of the other viable candidates.Retain SVD rifles for Indian Army snipers. Procure new ones as needed. The SVD perfectly makes up for any shortcomings found in 5.56x45mm carbines since the SVD is capable of good barrier penetration and effectively suppressing hostile forces with accurate fire at long range.

This seems to be a game-changing budget fortunately not populist as had been expected just before some major state elections due shortly. Neither is this a pro-rich budget as the opposition had predicted in the event of it not being pro-poor. For the first time, the railway budget has been clubbed with the general budget.Some of the key takeaways:MNREGA scheme gets 48K crore, participation of women 55%SC/ST schemes get over 50K crore in allotments - populist no doubt!Tax cut for MSMEs with turnover up to 50cr.Incomes in the range 2.5L-5L get IT reliefDigital transactions get a big thumbs upRailway to focus on safety, improvement of basic amenities, 7000 stations go solar, 500 stations to get lifts and escalators, bio-toilets, 3500 km of new tracks laid by 2020Most welcome move of all is that there is a push for more transparency in political funding with a cap of 2K as the maximum allowed per donation and a nudge towards cashless transactions even here - finally, the government has decided to walk the talkThis is being referred to as clean-up budget:Clean-up of the way politics shall be played in the country henceforth - cleaner funding, cleaner campaigningEach political party will have a bank account and donors would draw bonds of amount to donate which the party would deposit and encash. Just not too sure about the “anonymity” of donations. Hopefully, legitimate cash enters this system and is traceable back to the donor.**The nature of the bond was made clear only after the budget was declared. I have amended my answer to reflect this - I agree that black money in election campaign has not come to a halt with this, just made it a tad more difficult.**Clean-up of taxesCashless push - digitizationHigh on investment pushCreation of jobs by easing taxation in micro, small and medium enterprisesMollifying rural poorOne crore houses for poor by 2019! Credible?Tax benefits for the agricultural sectorAllocations in major sections:Defence: 2.74L croreTransport: 2.4L croreAgriculture/Rural: 1.87L croreWomen welfare: 1.84L croreRailways: 1.3L crore (with a promise to improve safety by 2020)MNREGA: 48K croreInfrastructure sector to get a boost of 3.96K croresTruth be told, the statistics quoted by the FM about people not being as poor as the tax collections show, seriously throws light in the fact that more people have been evading paying taxes than the other way around. Businesses need to shape up and this clean-up shall be good for all of us in the long run.The education sector seems to have been glossed over, considering that jobs cannot be created without empowering the youth with requisite skills.

P.N.Oak is infamous for his revisionist theories about Indian History, which have gained wide support among staunch nationalists.And the most upvoted answer to this question is also based on the “facts” mentioned by P.N.Oak in his book Tajmahal : The True Story.But I don’t understand how someone can even think that a Shiva temple would look like this—[WARNING : Extremely lengthy answer ahead. But you can skip to the TL;DR.]There are many claims that P.N.Oak makes in his book, and provides “evidences” which are not too difficult to debunk.An article titled Reclaim Temples and kick out the fraud in a website called Agniveer (which describes itself as a “Leading site for real Hinduism, untold history, genuine human rights, honest social change, fight against terror, and sincere humanism”) has a compilation of Oak’s “evidences”.It states :Why is the name Mahal added to Mumtaz Mahal, where “Mahal” means “Mansion” in Hindi and “Mahail” in Arabic means “place”? Her actual names recorded in muslim sources is Mumtaz-ul Zamani or Aliya Begum. So where did ‘Mahal’ come from?The answer can be found on Page 212 of The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia.Peter Mundy who visited Agra between 1631 and 1633 writes :This Kinge is now buildinge a Sepulchre for his late deceased Oueene Tage Moholl [TajMahal] (as much to say att the brightnes of the Moholl), whome hee dearely affected,He refers to the deceased Queen as “Taj Mahal”.From a footnote on the same page :So it is clear that Shah Jahan’s wife Arjumand Banu Begum was known as Mumtaz Mahal (“Pride of the Palace”) and Taj Mahal (“Crown of the Palace”).P.N.Oak and others questioning the origin of Taj Mahal mention the discrepancies in the accounts of the European travellers who visited Agra during Shah Jahan’s reign; but almost all of those accounts do mention the Taj Mahal being constructed.There are also official records from Shah Jahan’s time which mention the arragements made for the construction of the Taj Mahal. From E.B.Havell’s book Indian architecture, its psychology, structure, and history from the first Muhammadan invasion to the present day (page 31) :Court historian of Shah Jahan, Abdul Hamid Lahori gives a poetic description of the building of the Taj Mahal’s foundation (which according to him began in January 1632) — “And when the spade-wielders with robust arms and hands strong as steel, had with unceasing effort excavated down to the water table, the ingenious masons and architects of astonishing achievements most firmly built the foundation with stone and mortar up to the level of the ground.”(The Taj Mahal by Lesley A. DuTemple, Page 34)After the foundation, the main plinth (the base on which the Taj Mahal sits) was constructed; and it was probably finished on the first urs (death anniversary) of Mumtaz Mahal in June 1632. Thousands of people— nobles, scholars, holy men, rich and poor alike— attended the event. A lavish feast was served. For several days, the atmosphere around the Taj Mahal resembled that of a festive bazar.(The Taj Mahal by Lesley A. DuTemple, Page 37)Peter Mundy mentioned the Taj Mahal to be one of the notable sites in Agra (Page 209) even before it was finished :Places of noate [in and about it] are the Castle, King Ecbars [Akbar's] Tombe, Tage Moholls [TajMahal's] Tombe, Gardens and Bazare.While it can’t be said with certainty how many workers built the Taj Mahal or what was the total expenditure, another discovery supports the fact the Taj Mahal was in fact constructed during Shah Jahan’s reign.In 2004, a list of 671 names was found engraved in a sandstone wall in the complex that surrounds the mausoleum. The list, found on the north side facing the river, is believed to have been inscribed by the same hands that fashioned the extraordinary decorative work of the building. If the archaeologists are right, it is the craftsmen's own attempt to preserve their memory down the centuries.(Image credit : Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)The chief architect is known to have been Ustad - or Master - Ahmad Lahori. Shah Jahan is said to have had his eyes put out on the Taj's completion so nothing could ever be built to rival it. Amanat Khan Shirazi was in charge of the calligraphy that adorns the Taj. Ismail Khan Afridi was in charge of building the dome, and Mohammed Hanif was superintendent of the masons.The inscriptions reflect the diversity of those who built the Taj Mahal. Most are in Arabic and Persian, which would reflect the Islamic nature of Shah Jahan's court, but some are in the Devanagari script used by Hindi and other Indian languages. There are also traditional Indian symbols, such as swastikas, and geometrical patterns believed to have been used by illiterate artisans.D Dayalan, leader of the team of archaeologists who found the list, told The Asian Age that experts were working to decipher the epigraphs and names engraved in the stones."Since many of them were illiterate, they denoted symbols as a mark of their identity. We call these guilt marks. We already have a team working to decipher the epigraphs and the names.”"The names have been meticulously divided into sections like dome makers, garden development department, furnishing workers and inlay artists.”[1]A letter written by Aurangzeb to Shah Jahan about the Taj Mahal needing repairs, is used as an “evidence” that by the time Shah Jahan “altered” the original structure of the Taj Mahal it was already a few hundred years old, hence it was showing signs of wear.Aurangzeb writes :On Friday [4th] he circumambulated the most luminous shrine (ba tawaf-i-rauza-i-munawwara rafta) and earned the blessings [appropriate to such a] visit, prompted by the purest spirit of submission. The sacred structure (hazlra-i-qudsl asas, "holy hovel") still stands just as firmly as it did when it was completed under Your Majesty's eye.However, the following repairs are required: The dome covering the most sanctified sepulchre (marqad-i-mutahhar) leaks (tarawash mlkunad) in two places, on the northern side, during the rains. The four great arches, most of the balconies on the second storey, the four small domes, the chamber on the northern side [of the tomb] and the basement rooms in the pluith all need attention.The [marble] panels of the outer covering of the great dome (bam-i-jam posh-i-gumbaz-i-kalan [had lifted off] in two or three places, and let the water in (chaklda bud) during these [rains]; (dar in fasl) they have [now] been repaired. One can only guess what will happen in the next rains (dar barishkal-i-ayinda chi rul dahad?)The domes of the mosque and of the Jama'at Khana [opposite] also leaked during the rains, and have also been repaired. The builders claim that if they were to break up (wà karda) the floor above the roof of the second storey, plaster [the roof from above] (rekhta sâzand), and lay over it eighteen inches' thickness of tahkârl work, the pavilions, balconies, and smaller domes might perhaps be made sound.They profess themselves unable to do anything about the main dome.(A Drawing of the Taj Mahal under construction by Kunihiko Aoyama)The above excerpt is from the Letter 45 (pages 171–173) in the English translation Adab-i-Alamgiri, which has the collection of letters written by Aurangzeb to Shah Jahan, translated by Vincent John Adams Flynn.Vincent Flynn explains in the footnotes :The common feature of all these parts of the building is, that they had a flat outer surface permeable by water. The cement originally spread over the vaults of their floors or ceilings must have lacked hydraulic quality. Water will readily penetrate inferior cement, even when covered by thick slabs of stone or marble; but domes and flat roofs all over India have survived many hundreds of years without ever being re-surfaced, and the interiors are not stained by a drop of water.Unfortunately, Aurangzïb has not used exact language; the parts/"dar ham kashïda" (B.M. has dar nlm kashlda, "broken in half", which I, with Ch., reject). He could mean anything between "utterly ruined" and "need to be tidied up". In view of the phenomenal rains of 1652, and the nature of the damage to the principal dome, it is permissible to assert that water penetrated the cement lying above the brick-built vaults.P.N.Oak provided a line-by-line translation of the pages of Badshahnama, which deal with the burial of Mumtaz in his book published in 1966. The following passages are quoted from that source :(On) "Friday--15th Jamadi-ul Awwal, the sacred dead body of the traveller to the kingdom of Holiness, hazrat Mumtaz-ul Zamani--who was buried temporarily.... was brought to the capital Akbarabad (Agra)...The site covered with magnificent lush garden, to the south of that great city and amidst which (garden) the building known as the palace of Raja Mansingh, at present owned by Raja Jaisingh (Pesh az ein Manzil-e Rajan Mansingh bood Wadaree Waqt ba Raja Jaisingh), grandson (of Mansingh) was selected for the burial of the queen whose abode is in heaven.According to this translaton, there was only a palace and not a temple.So, by Oak’s own admission, the Taj Mahal was never a temple.But the question still remains— was the Taj Mahal a Rajput palace, which had a Shiv ling in the place where the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan lie?Eminent historian E.B.Havell in his book A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fathepur-Sikri, and the Neighbourhood (page 73) writes :According to the old Tartar custom, a garden was chosen as a site for the tomb—a garden planted with flowers and flowering shrubs, the emblems of life,and solemncy press, the emblem of death and eternity. Such a garden, in the Mogul days, was kept up as a pleasure-ground during the owner's lifetime, and used as his last resting-place after his death. The old tradition laid down that it must be acquired by fair means, and not by force or fraud. So Rajah Jey Singh, to whom the garden belonged, was compensated by the gift of another property from the Emperor's private estate.Taj Mahal: The Illumined Tomb by WE Begley and ZA Desai has a compilation of an anthology of contemporary accounts of Shah Jahan’s reign.Two books give details and a translation of the royal "farman" giving four "havelis" in lieu of Raja Jai Singh’s haveli (mansion).Padshah Nama by Qazwini describes the tract of land on the southern side of Agra that had the qualities needed to be the final resting place of the one whose residence was paradise. Qazwini says it was formerly the word "khana", or house of Raja Jai Singh.He also mentions that though the Raja was willing to give it for free, Shah Jahan gave him a lofty house in lieu of it.Lahori also describes a tract of land south of the city as being suitable for the queen’s resting place, and uses the word "manzil" or mansion of Raja Jai Singh. He also mentions the fact that though Raja Jai Singh was willing to give it for free, Shah Jahan gave a lofty mansion from the crown lands in exchange.Muhammad Salih Kanbo writes that the emperor acquired a "heaven-like tract of land (sarzamin e bihist-ain)" which was situated on the south side of Agra and belonged to Raja Man Singh. Once again, the word manzil is used.Though the mansion was gifted immediately after the decision to bury Mumtaz Mahal in Agra was taken in 1631, the exchange of the additional/replacement four "havelis" took two years to affect, as the royal "farman" is dated December 28, 1633.A certified contemporary copy of the "farman" dated 26 Jumada II 1043 AH, sixth regnal year [corresponding to December 28, 1633], is available in the Kapad Dwara collection in Jaipur City palace. The word used in the "farman" too is "haveli" (mansion).“Be it known through this glorious farman marked by happiness, which has received the honor of issuance and the dignity of proclamation, that the mansions (haveli) detailed in the endorsement, together with their dependencies, which belong to the august crown property, have been offered to that pride of peers and vassal of the monarch of Islam, Raja Jai Singh, and are hereby handed over and transferred to his ownership- in exchange of the mansion (haveli) formerly belonging to Raja Man Singh, which that pride of the grandees willingly and voluntarily donated for the mausoleum of that Queen of the ladies of the world ….. Mumtaz Mahal Begum.”[Translation Begley and Desai][2]To give you an idea of what the haveli must have looked like; here is a photograph of a haveli in the heritage village of Holipura in Agra which has charming havelis and rustic buildings, some dating back 350 years.[3]Now obviously, the Taj Mahal is not a haveli; so the structure that existed on the land owned by Raja Jai Singh, and which was probably built by Raja Man Singh, could not have been the Taj Mahal.P.N.Oak also claims about the existance of a Sanskrit inscription called the “Bateshwar inscription” (or as Oak calls it, the “Tejo Mahalaya inscription”) which allegedly refers to the raising of a "crystal white Shiva temple so alluring that Lord Shiva once enshrined in it decided never to return to Mount Kailash his usual abode". According to Oak, the inscription dated 1155 A.D. and was removed from the Taj Mahal garden at Shah Jahan's orders.But the part of the Archaeological Survey of India’s Report for the year 1871–1872 (which was published in 1874) which talks about the archaeological findings in Agra, which was written by A.C.L.Carlleyle under the superintendence of Alexander Cunningham,Director General of ASI , does not mention any such inscription.The report also talks about the etymology of Agra (pages 94–95) and Bhateswar (or Bateshwar) (pages 221–239) and then mentions the remains discovered near Bhateswar (pages 240–247) but there’s no mention of “Agreshwar Dham” (the holy shrine that Oak claims the Taj Mahal to be); even though it mentions the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist sites in and around Agra.(Bateshwar Temples; Uttar Pradesh Tourism | India Tourism Guide)In an article titled The Question of the Taj Mahal written by P. S. Bhat and A. L. Athawale which was published in the Itihas Patrika, Vol. 5, pp 98-111, 1985; they mention Marvin Mills of New York who allegedly reported about the Carbon-14 dating of the Taj Mahal : "Another item of evidence concerning the alleged date of the Taj is adduced from a radiocarbon date from a piece of wood from a door on the north facade of the Jumuna River's bank. The sample was tested by Dr. Even Williams, director of the Brooklyn College Radiocarbon Laboratory. The date came to 1359 AD with a spread of 89 years on either side and 67% probability, Masca corrected."Marvin Mills, now a faculty at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College, was a professor at Pratt Institute in New York when he wrote a document titled ‘AN ARCHITECT LOOKS AT THE TAJ MAHAL LEGEND’ (which is available on his website — Marvin H. Mills, AIA History of Islamic Architecture).In his article, he mentioned some “key problems” with the Taj Mahal :1. Consider the identical character of the two buildings on either side of the Taj main building. If they had different functions-one a mosque, the other a guest residence-then, they should have been designed differently to reflect their individual functions.(Image source : Aerial Shots From Around The World)But the Mihman Khana (the guest house) which is the second building on the terrace and east of the mausoleum, does differ from the mosque in small details. It is devoid of Mihrab and Minbar, and the floor is made of simple slabs of red sandstone. Moreover, it does not have the small room that welcomed the remains of Mumtaz Mahal, as on the mosque. But it has the same basin for ablutions, although in its case it is only decorative. [4]Also, the floors of the jawab (another name of the Mihman Khana, which is a “jawab” i.e. “answer” to the mosque; as a form of architectural balance) have a geometric design, while the mosque floor was laid out the outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. [5]2. Why does the perimeter wall of the complex have a Medieval, pre-artillery, defense character when artillery (cannons) was already in use in the Mughal invasions of India? [Why does a mausoleum need a protective wall in the first place? For a palace it is understandable.]Probably because the Taj Mahal was decorated with gold, silver and gems.3. Why are there some twenty rooms below the terrace level on the north side of the Taj facing the Jumna River? Why does a mausoleum need these rooms? A palace could put them to good use. The authors do not even mention their existence.4. What is in the sealed-up rooms on the south side of the long corridor opposite the twenty contiguous rooms? Who filled in the doorway with masonry? Why are scholars not allowed to enter and study whatever objects or decor are within?A website dedicated to the Taj Mahal [6]has an interesting theory about it :If we go by the Turkish Mughal tradition of providing a mausoleum with three set of graves, a tradition that has been followed in the tomb of Akbar, tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, and Chini-ka-rauza at Agra, Taj Mahal too should have a third set of graves, with the actual bodies of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan inside them. This is the myth of the "third graves" of Taj Mahal.[…]It is believed that these real set of graves must be somewhere inside the underground vaults that exist below the red sandstone platform of the Taj Mahal. And on the northern side of this red sandstone platform, lies two staircases that lead straight to the basement chambers which are seventeen in number and have been laid out in a line on the riverside. However, the doors on the extreme points on both the sides have been permanently blocked for some calculated purpose. A purpose that many believe is to conceal the presence of real graves of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan. According to the Muslim tradition, the real graves are always placed underground so that they remain undisturbed and the dead person could wait till the Day of Judgment and the graves that are visited by people are made in the likeness of the real graves.Another website also supports this theory and says :It is only in these underground vaults that the third set could have been placed. The doors in the basement corridor no doubt exist and must have originally given entry to some underground arrangement of chambers and corridors. Though they are now blocked, their existence lends weights to the legendary version. At least, we have figures,in the Persian manuscripts which contain the account of `third grave, expenditure on the Taj Mahal, of costs of three sets of tombstones. While the two are open to us, the third one is still a mystery. It is possible that the crypt and the passages were closed down in 1652 by Aurangzeb to give additional strength to the base which supported such a huge load above.[7]But of course, this is only just a speculation.Returning to Mills’ list of “key problems” :5. Why does the "mosque" face due west instead of facing Meccah? Certainly, by the seventeenth century there was no problem in orienting a building precisely!I don’t think this proves that the mosque was meant to be something else.6. Why has the Archaeological Survey of India blocked any dating of the Taj by means of Carbon-14 or thermo-luminiscnece? Any controversy over which century the Taj was built could easily be resolved. [Radiocarbon dating of a piece of wood surreptiously taken from one of the doors gave 13th century as a possible date. But more data is needed.]In a presentation (Taj Mahal: Not a Muslim Masterpiece (2007)) about his arguments and findings, he showed a document signed by Evan T. Williams which allegedly states that a sample of wood that Mills procured from the Taj Mahal is about 300 years older than the Taj Mahal itself.But he neither mentions those findings in his article on his website, nor in a letter he wrote to the editor of The New York Times on December 20, 1991 in which he objected to them calling the Taj Mahal "one of the most remarkable monuments of Mogul architecture" and "the tomb of Shah Jahan's beloved Mumtaz Mahal." [8]In his book, History's Mysteries: People, Places and Oddities Lost in the Sands of Time (page 75), Brian Haughton writes :The results of the radiocarbon dating of the wood were allegedly published in the academic journal Radiocarbon (Volume 19; 1977). However, although an examination of back issues of Radiocarbon for 1977 (available at www.radiocarbon.org) does indeed show an article by Dr. Evan Williams (“Brooklyn College Radiocarbon Dates I,” Volume 19, Number 1, 1977), nowhere in this article is there a mention of the dating of a piece of wood from the Taj Mahal.Some people say that the Taj Mahal could not have been constructed by a Muslim emperor, since its very existence is unislamic, (it is more or less a matter of debate whether constructing a tomb is permitted in Islam or not). But it is also a fact that the Mughal emperors before Aurangzeb weren’t staunchly religious in their personal lives.And Aurangzeb, on grounds of both economy and fidelity to the Islamic law criticized the Taj Mahal,the tomb of his mother, remarking: "The lawfulness of a solid construction over a grave is doubtful, and there can be no doubt about the extravagance involved." [9](Although Aurangzeb too commissioned a tomb for his first and chief wife Dilras Banu Begum, posthumously known as Rabia-ud-Daurani; in Aurangabad, which is known as Bibi Ka Maqbara and bears a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal.)P.N.Oak claims that the interior of the dome rising over Mumtaz's centotaph has a representation of Sun and cobras drawn in gold; and Hindu warriors trace their origin to the Sun while cobras are always associated with Lord Shiva.This is the design he was talking about.While a solar motif is definitely there, there are no cobras— just an artistic representation of the rays of the sun. It’s another example of the brain seeing what it wants to see.[10]Oak also claims that the pinnacle of the Taj Mahal depicts a "Kalash" (sacred pot) holding two bent mango leaves and a coconut, which is a sacred Hindu motif.It is likely that the the architectural design of the Tamga of the Mughal Empire (see above) on the finial of the Taj Mahal, which by the way has “Allah” inscribed on it (see below) was inspired by the kalash on top of Hindu temples.But it is reasonable to assume that if the Taj Mahal were actually a temple, it would have a proper kalash and not a flattened one.Something like these —Image source : Hindu temple architectureAn argument is also made that since the Taj Mahal seems to have a lot of Hindu symbols, it cannot be an Islamic mausoleum; and it must have been a temple or a structure constructed by Hindu rulers.What they seem to forget is that Mughal architecture is an amalgam of Persian, Turkish, and Indian architecture — the former two being “Islamic” and the latter being “Hindu”. So it is not surprising that Mughal structures have Hindu symbols on them too, such as the lotus canopy on the central dome of the Taj Mahal.The Taj Mahal is the culmination of Mughal architecture. It draws inspiration from previous Mughal monuments and perfects their art.Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi seems to be the prototype, from which the central structure of the Taj Mahal was inspired.(Image source : Tourist places | 21th Congress of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology)Akbar’s Tomb in Sikandra was the source of inspiration for the design of the minars of the Taj Mahal.(Image source : Agra 83 - Akbar's tomb)And Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore seems to have inspired the idea of minars surrounding the central structure.(Image source : Jahangir's Tomb Located In Shahdara, Punjab Pakistan)(Image source : Interesting Facts About the Tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah Agra)Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah (I'timād-ud-Daulah Maqbara), described as a "jewel box", and sometimes called the "Bachcha Taj" (“Baby Taj”), is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal.The tomb, built between 1622 and 1628 represents a transition between the first phase of monumental Mughal architecture – primarily built from red sandstone with marble decorations, as in Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi and Akbar’s tomb in Sikandra – to its second phase, based on white marble and pietra dura (floral design made up of semiprecious stone) inlay, most elegantly realized in the Taj Mahal.The mausoleum was commissioned by Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, for her father Mirza Ghiyas Beg, who had been given the title of I'timād-ud-Daulah, “pillar of the state”; and was also the grandfather of Mumtaz Mahal. Nur Jahan was also responsible for the construction of Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore.The tomb situated on the eastern banks of the river Yamuna, is planned in the centre of a Char-Bagh(Four quartered garden), with the usual enclosing walls and side buildings. The main tomb of white marble is marvelously set in the centre of the garden. It stands on a plinth of red stone having in the middle of each side, facing the central arch, a lotus tank with fountain.The tomb is square in plan with octagonal towers, surmounted by chhatris, attached to its corners.There is no dome ; instead the building is roofed by a square 'Barahdari' having three arched openings on each side which are closed by jalis except in the middle of the north and south sides. It is protected by a chhajja above which is the chaukhandi(pyramidal) roof, crowned by lotus petals and kalash finials.The only asymmetrical element of the entire complex is that the cenotaphs of Nur Jahan’s father and mother have been set side-by-side, a formation replicated in the Taj Mahal.[11]With all these similarities in design, there remains little doubt that the Taj Mahal is a product of Mughal architecture— which is an amalgamation of Hindu and Islamic architecture.But since P.N.Oak was in denial, he claimed that that “all dead muslim courtiers and royalty including Humayun, Akbar, Mumtaz, Etmad-ud-Daula and Safdarjang have been buried in capture Hindu mansions and temples” (as mentioned in Stephen Knapp’s website).The myth that the Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple probably originated from E.B.Havell’s book Indian architecture, its psychology, structure, and history from the first Muhammadan invasion to the present day (pages 21–24) where he wrote that Chandi Sewa at Prambanam inJava, which has an arrangement of domes strikingly similar to that of the Taj, supplies the true prototype of the Taj mausoleum; and not Humayun’s tomb.(Image source : Candi Sewu, Part Of Prambanan Hindu Temple, Indonesia)On page 27, Havell further writes :But (on pages 29–30) he also makes it clear that he is not trying to “erase” the legacy of Mughal architecture (Oak should’ve read this part) :[12]It is a fact that the Taj Mahal was heavily influenced by Humayun’s Tomb, and the Quincunx ( a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center) design which the Taj Mahal employs with the central dome and four smaller domes surrounding it, is not only reminiscent of the Candi Sewu temple and of a Panchayatana (when in a temple the main shrine is surrounded by four subsidiary shrines— a similar design is the quincunx of Angkor Wat), but also of Roman, Byzantine and Persian architecture.(St. Mark’s, Venice : Photo by Dave Curtis)(St. Michael’s Monastery in Kiev. Domes over side chapels are here added to the quincunx which defines the central mass of the church. [Image Source])In pagan antiquity, the quincunx pattern was understood to be a geometric emblem of an ordered world. And after the Christian revelation, a summary of a sanctified universe.[13]The design proposed for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican by Donato Bramante was a quincunx as well (below). The dome even had a Fleur-de-lis on top.So the Taj Mahal (like other monuments built by the Mughals) is a product of the architectural traditions from different parts of the world.One of the structures which directly influenced the Taj Mahal (and Humayun’s Tomb too) is the Gur-e-Amir (“Tomb of the King”) in Uzbekistan; where an ancestor of the Mughals, Timur (or Tamerlane) is buried.Gur-e-Amir is a one-cupola building, which is famous for its simplicity of construction and for its solemn monumentality of appearance. It is an octahedral building crowned by an azure fluted dome. The exterior decoration of the walls consists of the blue, light-blue and white tiles organized into geometrical and epigraphic ornaments against a background of terracotta bricks. [14](Image source : Gur-e-Amir - Mausoleum in Samarkand - Thousand Wonders)Mughal architecture is a synthesis of of Persian, Turkic, Timurid Iranian, Central Asian, and Indian Hindu and Muslim styles. [15]E.B.Havell in his book A Handbook of Indian Art (page 142) writes how the Taj Mahal is an Islamic structure built in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions :E.B.Havell quotes a line from W.R.Lethaby’s Architecture (page 207) in his book Indian architecture, its psychology, structure, and history from the first Muhammadan invasion to the present day (page 31) to describe Mughal architecture. He says that like all true architeture, it was “not a thing of will, of design,or of scholarship, but a discovery of the nature of things in building, a continuous development along the same line of direction imposed by needs, desires, and traditions”.And that Mughal architecture is “Indian in body and soul” :Up until the 20th century, the Taj Mahal was considered a “symbol of love”, that the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan constructed for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.But after it was finished, Shah Jahan visited the Taj only twice.There is a letter from Aurangzeb to him after a visit, reporting that the dome was leaking and needed to be fixed (mentioned in this answer previously). Shah Jahan wasn't bothered: He had moved on to designing his next project, Shahjahanabad, shifting the Mughal capital from Agra.That is why Aakar Patel in an article writes that Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in gratitude :Shah Jahan became emperor because of his wife. Her relatives used the uncertainty around Jahangir's illness and death, to secure power for him.By the time he arrived in Agra, his brothers had all been blinded. This left the throne open for Khurram (as Shah Jahan was named) and without his wife, he would not have been emperor.[…]Absent the quick actions of his wife, Khurram would likely have been blinded or executed by one of his brothers, instead of going on to become a name famous in history.And so the Taj was likely an act of Shah Jahan showing gratitude and it explains why, having done this, he moved on without a qualm.[16]Recent studies have found out that the Taj Mahal is a representation of Paradise associated with the notion of Last Judgment.This vision is due to Wayne Ernest Begley, who published a comprehensive study on the subject. If contemporary texts of the creation of the Taj Mahal specify it, it is essentially the works of Begley which confirms it: The plans of the monument were made compared to the "Plain of the Assembly" (Ard al-Hashr), the eschatological place of the Last Judgment.The layout of the buildings is similar to the plan which is described in the manuscripts of the Illuminations of Mecca by Ibn Arabi :Hence, the Taj Mahal represents a spiritual journey. The complex is divided into 4 parts, all aligned from South to North. Each passage from one to the other corresponds to a symbolic passage, from the most terrestrial to the most celestial.The inner courtyard, named Jilaukhana, is a place of preparation for spiritual life. Symbolically this is the place where people from outside prepare to enter the holiest places of the monument, a place where are the graves of the first two wives of Emperor Shah Jahan and where the officiant resided religious, at the time.The garden (“charbagh”) is a representation of Paradise; and the 4 channels symbolize the 4 rivers of Paradise according to Muslims, namely the river of water, that of milk, that of wine and that of honey.The mausoleum, octagonal, is on a square base, a geometric form associated with the earth. We must know that according to Muslims, we speak not of one but of 8 paradises. It is easy to get between these 8 paradises and the octagon of the mausoleum, and we have a chain: Square to octagon to dome, which symbolically represents the passage from the earth to Paradise. And the 4 minarets are a direct reference to the ascension of souls to the sky.[17](Image source : Taj Mahal from the sky — Wikimedia Commons)In his answer to this question, Puneetchandra Sharma mentions a portion of the English translation of Ain-i-Akbari by Henry Blochmann (Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl, tr by H. Blochmann, Vol I, page 341, No. 30), which reads :Man Singh died a natural death in the 9th year of Jahangir's reign whilst in the Dak'hin. Sixty of his fifteen hundred wives burned themselves on the funeral pile. At the time of his death, only one of his numerous sons was alive, Bhao Singh, regarding whose succession to the title vide Tuzuk i Jahinngiri,“The ground on which the Taj at A'grah stands, belonged to Man Singh.”Mr Sharma argues that “very fact that the Taj Mahal was there before Mumtaz died, falsifies the the present historians claim that it was built by Shah Jahan.”Except it doesn’t.In the beginning of A’i’n 30, which is titled Grandees of the Empire (where the aforementioned excerpt is from); Abul Fazl, referring to the Grandees of the Court, writes that he shall “merely record, in form of a table, their names and the titles which have been conferred upon them” (page 308) :But we find that in the Blochmann translation, there isn’t a mere table but a list of 415 Grandees of the Mughal Empire along with their biographies (from page 308 to page 526).In the footnote on page 308, the translator has written :The fact that these biographies are not there in Francis Gladwin’s translation of Ain-i-Akbari proves that they were not there in the original text, and were only included by Henry Blochmann in his translation.That is why Blochmann has written “The ground on which the Taj at A'grah stands, belonged to Man Singh.”; because he was aware of the history of the Taj.Abul Fazl could not have written this, because he died in 1602 and the construction of the Taj Mahal did not even begin till 1632.TL;DR — NO.The Taj Mahal is not a temple of Lord Shiva.It was commissioned by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his deceased wife Mumtaz Mahal. And while it can be argued if it is actually a “symbol of love”, it was certainly never a temple.Also read : What are your views of P.N. Oak’s theory that the Taj Mahal was not built by Shah Jahan and 'Tejo Mahalaya'? by Mayur KanaiyaReferencesThe True Story of the Taj Mahal by Stephen Knapp (a summary of P.N. Oak’s book Tajmahal : The True Story)The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and AsiaIndian architecture, its psychology, structure, and history from the first Muhammadan invasion to the present day by E. B. HavellArchaeological Survey of India’s Report for the year 1871–1872The Taj Mahal by Lesley A. DuTempleAn English Translation of the Adab-i-'Alamgiri : The Period Before the War of Succession being The Letters of Prince Muhammad Aurangzib Bahadur to Muhammad Shihabu'd-din Shah Jahan Sahib-i-Qiran-i-Sani, Emperor of Hindustan by Vincent John Adams FlynnA Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fathepur-Sikri, and the Neighbourhood by E. B. HavellThe Question of the Taj Mahal by P. S. Bhat and A. L. AthawaleAN ARCHITECT LOOKS AT THE TAJ MAHAL LEGEND by Marvin H. MillsHistory's Mysteries: People, Places and Oddities Lost in the Sands of Time by Brian HaughtonRadiocarbon, 1977 ; BROOKLYN COLLEGE RADIOCARBON DATES I by Evan T. WilliamsA Handbook of Indian Art by E. B. HavellThe Ain i Akbari by Abul Fazl ‘Allami, translated from the original Persian, by H. BlochmannAyeen Akbery; or, The Institutes of the Emperor Akber. Translated from the Original Persian by Francis GladwinFootnotes[1] Craftsmen who built Taj Mahal preserved their names in stone[2] The real story of how Taj Mahal was built[3] Discovering the soul of Agra … not at the Taj Mahal - Breathedreamgo[4] Mosque of the Taj Mahal[5] Taj Mahal[6] Is There a Third Set of Graves in Taj[7] Information About Third Grave at Taj[8] Opinion | Separating the Taj Mahal From Legend[9] part2_15[10] The Interior of the Main Dome[11] Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah - Wikipedia[12] Taj Mahal Architecture: Origins in Humayun's Tomb (Video) • Approach Guides[13] The Quincunx: Queen of Symbols[14] Gur-e-Amir - Wikipedia[15] Boundless Art History[16] Shah Jahan built the Taj in gratitude[17] Symbolism of the Taj Mahal