India: Man spends over Dh2 million to build replica Taj Mahal with mosque to honour his mother

A man from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India, has built a memorial for his late mother taking inspiration from the iconic Taj Mahal. The businessman, whose mother passed away three years ago, spent Rs50 million (Dh2,242,778) to build the marble structure, according to Indian media.

Amrudeen Sheik Dawood runs a rice business in Chennai and wanted to pay tribute to his mother Jailani Beevi after her death in 2020. According to Amrudeen Sheik, he was young when his father, Abdul Kader Sheik Dawood, passed away. The 48-year-old shared that his father had a hardware business and died unexpectedly.

Following this, it was Amrudeen Sheik’s mother who not only looked after him and his four sisters but also handled the business. Amrudeen Sheik told The Times Of India that his mother “sacrificed her life to raise us with all virtues”. He added, “Without her, we are nothing”.

But when Jailani Beevi died in December 2020, Amrudeen Sheik said it “shook me a lot”. Amrudeen Sheik then decided to build a mausoleum for her.

“We felt her presence should be an enduring one. So with my family’s consent, I decided to build this mausoleum for her on a one-acre plot in Ammaiyappan,” Amrudeen Sheik told The Hindu.

The construction started in 2021 and it took over two years for the Taj Mahal-inspired mausoleum to be completed. Besides the grave of Amrudeen Sheik’s mother, which is built on an 8,000 square feet area, the complex also has a mosque and madrassa. Talking about the structure’s resemblance to Taj Mahal, Amrudeen Sheik said it was incidental, according to the report.

He said they just wanted a building with elements of Mughal architecture but the designer they consulted “suggested that our idea was very similar to that used in the famed monument”.

“So, we just went ahead,” he added.

Amrudeen Sheik shared that around 80 tonnes of marble was brought from Rajasthan and local labourers worked together to build the mausoleum.

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