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‘The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal’—curated by historian Rana Safvi—presents over 200 works spanning the late eighteenth to mid-twentieth century, offering a layered visual history of India’s most iconic monument. Through paintings, photographs, and archival materials, the exhibition explores how the Taj “speaks” through its design, Quranic inscriptions, and floral motifs. From Company School paintings and colonial-era photographs to modern Indian interpretations, the show reveals how the Taj’s meanings have evolved — from imperial mausoleum to global emblem of love. On view at DAG, New Delhi, from 25 October to 6 December, 2025, the exhibition repositions the Taj as a dynamic cultural artifact of faith, power, and popular imagination.
A recent post on X (formerly Twitter) by Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal shows the veteran actor lifting the dome of the Taj Mahal to reveal an idol of the Puranic deity Shiva emerging from inside the iconic Mughal monument. The image, part of promotional material for Rawal’s upcoming film, is a reference to a decades-old Hindutva conspiracy theory that claims the Taj Mahal is an ancient Shiva temple named Tejo Mahalaya. It’s only the latest instance of Hindutva supporters trying to push the demonstrably false narrative first propagated by Hindutva propagandist P.N. Oak in his 1965 book ‘Taj Mahal Was A Rajput Palace’.
Since its construction in the 17th century by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the iconic marble tomb has inspired a vast body of literature, from paeans of praise written by court historians and enthusiastic foreign travellers to scholarly analyses and travelogues that cover every aspect of its architecture and history. Artists, too, have responded with numerous images, including paintings, prints, photographs, and tourist posters. The Bengali Nobel Laureate and India’s National Poet Rabindranath Tagore famously described the Taj Mahal as “a teardrop on the cheek of time”. In his poem ‘Shah Jahan’, Tagore described the monument as a testament to a love that endures beyond fleeting life, wealth, and glory.
And yet, in the last half-century, the Taj Mahal has also become a contested terrain: of historical revisionism, ideological appropriation, and heritage politics. As Hindu Nationalism has come to dominate and define India’s popular imagination in the last decade, the Taj has taken on new meanings. Despite the Archaeological Survey of India’s 2017 statement that there was no evidence to suggest the monument ever housed a temple, Hindutva supporters have resurrected P.N. Oak’s debunked claim again and again in India’s constitutional courts and in the public arena.
These claims are part of a broader Hindutva project to rewrite India’s complex, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and many-layered history and erase the contributions of the Mughals—India’s erstwhile Islamic rulers—in shaping the country’s unique, syncretic built heritage.
This is precisely where cultural projects like ‘The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal’ become significant. By assembling 200 works across Company School paintings, colonial and Indian photographs, modern art, and archival documentation—curated by historian Rana Safvi—the exhibition does more than document the monument. It positions the Taj again as a speaking entity — a living monument that communicates across centuries, cultures and media.
In doing so, the exhibition stands as a much-needed counter-narrative to reactionary and reductive ideologies seeking to appropriate or distort the monument’s history, its architecture, and its significance. Built heritage like the Taj Mahal are not just aesthetic structures: they are imbued with history, religious meaning, cultural synthesis, and political significance. In recent controversies—such as political debates and ongoing legal cases around the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi or the Shahi Idgah in Mathura—the same desire to rewrite history and claim built heritage is at work. In this context, cultural-historical exhibitions like ‘The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal’ become a form of public scholarship and civic defence: they assert that history matters, evidence counts, and that the plurality and complexity of Indian history is not a liability but a strength.
Opening on 25 October to the public, ‘The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal’ will remain on view until 6 December at DAG, New Delhi. Learn more about the exhibition here.
Follow DAG here.
If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:
“Taj Mahal Was A Shiva Temple”, They Say As The Hindutva Revisionism Agenda Becomes More Apparent
Catch Me If You Can: The Man Who Sold The Taj Mahal
Japanese Artist Carved His Memories Of 1930s India Into Postcards
