TOP OF THE WEEK February 28, 2003 Battle to preserve Agra’s most enduring symbol NEW DELHI:There are two groups of people in the world: “Those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who have not.” A neglected city with the world’s most beautiful monument LUCKNOW: A 500-year-old city that is home to one of the most beautiful monuments on earth. Agra and the Taj Mahal are almost synonymous for millions of tourists in India and across the world. Yet, the reality today is that the ethereal beauty of the Taj stands in stark contrast to the squalor that is Agra. The city is in decay and the best efforts ---- including some by international agencies ---- to clean it up have met with failure. And this, officials say, is largely due to the apathy of the state government as well as the city administration. City of the Taj celebrates half a millennium of existence Lucknow: It is known the world over as the city of the Taj Mahal. But Agra, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, predates the white marble monument to love by well over a 100 years in recorded history. And if one goes by legend and myth, it may well predate the Taj by over 1,600 years or more. But it is going by recorded history that the city is this year celebrating half a millennium of existence. Tracing city’s history back to ‘ancient times’ LUCKNOW: Even as Agra completes half a millennium, the celebrations ----- largely undertaken by local businessmen and tour operators ---- has been somewhat muted, thanks to a marked lack of enthusiasm on the part of the state as well as the Centre. Giving the Taj a face-pack, literally LUCKNOW: It is time to say “eureka” for those engaged in the maintenance of the Taj Mahal. Having failed to identify a cleansing agent that would not leave side-effects on the 350-year-old marble monument, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) finally came up with a novel idea ----- and it worked. It was clay scooped out from deep within the ground in certain parts of north India that has helped ASI restore the beauty of the Taj, which had been visibly yellowing due to the effects of pollution. TAJ FACT FILE Described by Rabindranath Tagore as “a tear on the face of eternity,” the Taj Mahal in Agra is easily the most famous example of Mughal architecture. Here are a few little-known facts about the monument to love.