Word: taj
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...stoolie who fingered him. He cozies up to a prisoner who may or may not be famed hijacker D.B. Cooper (Muse Watson). And he helps build an anniversary gift for the wife of the warden (Stacy Keach), to whom it never occurs that a guy who can craft the Taj Mahal out of toothpicks just might be able to pick the lock of his cage...
...rope bed, and arrives at a brick tomb that has survived for 450 years. Hidden away in this unlikely domestic setting, it's a splendid archeological curiosity?one of the first tombs to fuse Persian and Mughal styles in a way that prefigured the design of the Taj Mahal a century later. But as Thakur steps inside, she is assaulted by a stench that reveals the mausoleum's current function: it has become a toilet. "Heritage in India is endless," says Thakur, head of New Delhi's School of Planning and Architecture and widely regarded as India's leading conservationist...
...just obscure treasures like the mausoleum-lavatory that are under threat. Even the Taj Mahal, India's (and Islam's) most famous building, may be endangered. UNESCO has warned that sulfurous pollution from the city of Agra is eating away at the building's exquisite inlaid marble and that sewage water is seeping into the foundations; the organization has also asked for a report to address claims that the 350-year-old tomb is tilting by 19 cm, leading to fears that it might eventually collapse. Meanwhile, India's foremost Hindu site, the southern city of Hampi, has appeared...
...India's biggest problem, says Thakur, is that it lacks the manpower and financial resources to manage its historic riches. The ASI employs no qualified architects or conservationists, and monument care is split between a confusing cluster of local and national authorities, NGOs, religious orders, businesses and individuals. The Taj and its immediate environs come under six government agencies: the ministries of culture, environment and tourism, two city authorities and one state body. Thakur is careful not to condemn the ASI or the ministries, describing their staff as sincere professionals faced with an almost impossible task. But she also complains...
...Thakur sees her 120 disciples as another vital component of India's nascent preservation movement. These devotees include Golden Temple expert Gurmeet Rai and Taj Mahal specialist Meetu Sharma Saxena, who says of her mentor: "We are all her children." Declares Thakur: "If I need inspiration, I just need to look at them and see how inspired they get." Watching these heritage advocates in action, it's easy to see why Thakur hasn't abandoned hope. On a recent day-trip south of New Delhi to check on the Taj Mahal, Saxena tenderly strokes some new cracks she's spotted...