What will happen if you don’t brush your teeth for years? Of course, they will become yellowish and unhealthy. But if you maintain them properly, your teeth will shine. I had the same feeling when I saw the Taj Mahal at Agra in India last November. I found the front pillars white and shiny, while the main dome was yellowish.

Why was the Taj Mahal looking like this? Well, the iron structure situated at the backside of the monument gave me the answer. Taj Mahal was under maintenance and getting back its beauty, or a ‘facelift’. The main dome’s surface was yet to be ‘lifted’ and that’s why it was looking pale. It was, indeed, a rare chance to see the maintenance work of the great Taj!

Completed back in 1648, the iconic monument is over 360 years old and, unsurprisingly, in need of a little maintenance. Over the last few years ‘mud-pack therapy’ has been carried out on the marble façade and interiors to restore whiteness and gleam to the marble. Mud-pack therapy is one of the safest cleaning methods available for such monuments.

During the cleaning process, portions of the white marble dome will be covered in mud and plastic sheets for two to three days at a time, with scaffolding likely to obscure larger areas. It is expected that the cleaning will be finished by November this year, said local officials.     

Despite all the maintenance work going on, the Taj Mahal was still open for tourists and that’s how we got the chance to see the monument. We were lucky that when we visited the Taj Mahal, the maintenance work was going on at the backside and we got the chance to enjoy the total view of the front side.

Our guide said the authorities have taken several measures to keep the Taj Mahal pollution free. For example, now tourists are not allowed to visit the main structure with shoes, we had to collect one-time covers for our footwear. Secondly, only electric and battery-run cars and three-wheelers, horse carts and rickshaws are allowed from the front entrance to the main entrance of the Taj Mahal.  

Well, I agree, being a witness to the ‘face-lifting’ of the Taj Mahal is great, but next time, I want to experience the complete view of the great monument. For that, I have to wait for at least 12 months. 

The writer is a student of

Play Pen School, Dhaka.