Black Taj Mahal 
The legend has it, that Shah Jehan decided to construct another Taj Mahal in black marble
on the other side of the river Yamuna and to connect the two by a bridge. This structure was
intended to be his own tomb. It has been recorded  by Tavernier : "Shah Jehan began to build his own tomb on 
the other side of the river but the war with his sons interrupted
his plan and Aurangzeb who reigns at present is not disposed to complete it". Later gazetteers and
guide books mention this story almost invariably. The irregular position of the cenotaph of Shah
Jehan as compared to that of Mumtaz Mahal which occupies the exact centre of the hall is enough proof into itself.. 
The Mehtab Burj and the wall adjoining it opposite the Taj Mahal are
generally said to be the grim remains of the proposed plan. 

Many scholars, however, believe that this idea belongs to fiction rather than history. The traces
which are identified as the foundations of the second Taj are actually the enclosing wall of a garden
founded by Baber. The irregular position of Shah Jehan's cenotaph in comparison to Mumtaz
Mahal's, is similar to that at the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, and thus should not be of any striking
significance. Besides, according to Islamic law, bodies are buried with their faces towards Mecca
and legs towards the south, and the husband is placed on the right hand side of his wife. The
interpretation that the cenotaph of Shah Jehan was not meant to be placed here appears to be
superfluous. 
Till today it is not known who really designed Taj, but as the rumours say it may
have been designed by an Italian Architect. 

Some European scholars held the view that the Taj was designed by an Italian - Geronimo Veroneo.
This was first suggested by Father Manrique, an Augustinian Friar, who came to Agra in 1640 A.D.
to secure the release of Father Antony who had been imprisoned by the Mughals. It was in Lahore
that he met Father Joseph de Castro, the executor of Veroneo who died at Lahore in 1640 A.D.,
and it was Castro who told him about "the Venetian by the name Geronimo Veroneo who came in
the Portuguese ships and died in the city of Lahore before he reached it..." 

During the reign of Jehangir, a goldsmith named Veroneo did in fact come to India and, as mentioned
by Father Manrique, did die on his way to Lahore. He lived for a time in Agra, and prospered there.
He knew many influential Europeans throughout the North Indian provinces, and when he died, he
was buried in the Christian cemetery of Padres Santos in Agra. 

The theory that Veroneo designed the Taj is intriguing and still finds occasional champions, especially
in Italy. But the scales of evidence weigh heavily against it. True there is the testimony of Father
Manrique, but he was no more than a casual tourist who heard that the Taj had been built by an
Italian. However, nowhere else is there mentioned that Veroneo participated in planning the Taj
Mahal. As a matter of fact, there is no record that Veroneo had any skill other than that of working on
gold. Other Europeans who saw the Taj under construction never mentioned his name, and
furthermore, it is difficult to suppose that an artist trained in seventeenth century Italy, the Italy of
Bernini, could build a mausoleum that would typify Indo-Persian architecture. The Taj is not an
isolated phenomenon, the creation of a single mastermind but the glorious consummation of a great
epoch of art.
The Basement Chambers and a probable Third Grave 
Two staircases on the northern side of the red sandstone plinth of the Taj lead below into the
basement chambers which are seventeen in number and have been laid out in a line on the riverside
of a narrow through-corridor. The rooms and corridor are of acurate construction in brick and
plaster, with stucco and painting ornamentation, distributed aesthetically on the soffits. At the
extreme points on both sides there are doors sunk in the northern wall. They were blocked up
permanently and securely with thick masonry at some unknown date, undoubtedly for some well
calculated purpose. As may be surmised, the set on the northern side could have been repeated on
the sides below the marble structure, with a rotating corridor, chambers and probably a crypt in the
centre - all being interconnected. 

This crypt would have contained the third and the real set of graves. The custom of providing
cenotaphs or replicas had been followed by the Turks and the Mughals alike as we meet with this
practice at the tomb of Iltutmish at Delhi and at the tombs of Saqid Khan and Akbar at Agra. The
tomb of Akbar has three tombstones, one on the grave and two as cenotaphs. The tomb of
Itmad-ud-Dauhlah and Chini-ka-Rauza too had three tombstones each. The lowest of the former
was contained in a crypt which was originally accessible from the riverside and has now been
completely blocked up. These examples indicate that the Mughals liked to provide three tombstones
in a mausoleum. At the Taj, the third is traditionally claimed to exist. 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 permanently blocked, their existence lends weight to the legendary version. 

The Taj Mahal was a Rajput Palace!! 
A group of Hindu fundamentalists which seeks to deny any positive role of Muslims in India dispute
the claim that the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jehan. Instead, as outlined in the book The Taj
Mahal Was a Rajput Palace, fourth century Hindu rulers are given credit for its erection. The claim
is without serious merit, but it has acquired something of a following in India. 

The Taj is sinking!! 
The architect of the Taj Mahal aimed at giving maximum strength and stability to the tomb and
worked out the minute details with utmost precision : the weight of the entire structure is uniformly
distributed, extraordinarily massive piers and vaults were constructed to support this heavy load., the
very best quality of bonding material helped combat the disrupted tensile stress etc. However, in
spite of all these precautions and care, dangerous cracks and leakages developed in the substructure
just four years after its completion. Aurangzeb in his letter to Shah Jehan in 1652 mentions these
cracks. Some defects were discovered about the same time in the dome. Though thorough repairs
were undertaken, the nature of the cracks was not discovered. The cracks were again noticed to
have developed to dangerous proportions in 1810. As a result an Advisory Committee on the
restoration and conservation of the monument was set up and a survey with reference to the damage
was undertaken. 

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Some very important facts came out of this survey. It was discovered that the plinth of the
mausoleum on the northern side (or the riverside) is lower than on the south by 3.5cms. Cracks were
not noticed on the exterior wall, but they were definitely present on the second storey vaults of the
marble structure and, on a much larger scale, in the underground vaults below the northern side. The
long series of cracks in the underground vaults may be due to the crushing of lime on account of the
excessive weight, or as seems more probable, this may be due to the sinking of the whole structure
towards the riverside!!