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Also known as John Hessing Tomb, the Red Taj Mahal was built in the early 19th century and is a perfect replica of the Taj Mahal.
Whilst Shah Jahan built the majestic White Beauty - Taj Mahal for his beloved wife, there's another Taj Mahal in Agra called the Red Taj, which was also built out of love. Travelers and tourists visiting Agra get so glued to the beauty of the Taj Mahal that they tend to ignore other gorgeous sites in the city. Also known as John Hessing Tomb, the Red Taj Mahal was built in the early 19th century and is a perfect replica of the Taj Mahal. But unlike Taj Mahal, the Red Taj was built by a wife in memory of her beloved ‘man’ and this man was called John Hessing!
Who was John Hessing?
John Hessing was basically a Dutch traveller who ended up becoming an army officer and served in the troop of the Marathas in Agra. Happy with his loyalty and dedication, he was given the command of the Agra Fort by Daulatrao Scindia in 1799. But unfortunately, the fort was attacked by British Army in the year 1803, during when the commander John Hessing was killed in the battlefield trying to defend his fort. Devastated and heartbroken by his husband’s death, his wife Ann Hessing commissioned this monument in the memory of her husband. The tomb was designed to look like the Taj Mahal but in red sandstone, a near replica of the original Taj Mahal in Agra.
History echoes from every corner of this famous city. In 1803, the British invaded Delhi, and then Agra, commencing 150 years of colonial rule in the subcontinent. Today, this Red Taj Mahal is located in a cemetery called Padretola. Built out of red sandstone on an elevated platform, the John Hessing Tomb unrolls several chapters of Indian history. Hence, it is a site of great historical importance.
Architecture of the Red Taj
A Taj Mahal of red sandstone, with slender turrets and a dome, rises above the trees. The Red Taj, as it is called, displays Mughal architecture and stands on a square platform with a corridor around, while the top is a typical dome-shaped structure. The dome-shaped pavilions surrounding the Red Taj are symbolic of pride and honour. You can see the grave of John Hessing inside the central hall and a few English inscriptions that are engraved on his tomb.
The Red Taj Mahal is located adjacent to the national highway and MG Road in a graveyard known as ‘John Sahab Ka Roza’ which traces its roots to Armenians. The stone engraving detailing its history is fading and it remains one of the numerous lesser known monuments eclipsed by the glitter of Taj.
The site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India but tourists are mostly unaware about it. The tomb is almost a replica of the Taj Mahal with four minarets at four corners around a dome-shaped structure on an elevated platform, all in red sand stone.
There are other tombs and graves in the cemetery with inscriptions in Armenian and Portuguese.
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