The Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim Mogul king, not a Hindu. However, holy sights were often built atop older sights by Muslims and Christians, consider the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
Some groups (with vested interests) floated this idea that Taj Mahal was originally built on the site of an ancient Hindu temple. Till date no evidence to point in that direction has been found.
According to this website: http://www.royalty.nu/Asia/India/TajMahal.html
"The Taj Mahal, often called the most beautiful building in the world, was built by an emperor as a memorial to his beloved wife.
Prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan, was born in 1592. His father was Jahangir, the fourth Mughal emperor of India. According to legend, the prince met Arjumand Banu Begum, the daughter of his father's prime minister, at a bazaar when he was 14 and she was 15. Smitten, the prince bought a diamond from the girl for 10,000 rupees, then went to his father and announced his desire to marry her.
Their wedding took place five years later, in 1612. From that time they were inseparable (although Shah Jahan also had other wives). After becoming emperor in 1628, Shah Jahan entrusted Arjumand Banu with the royal seal. He called her Mumtaz Mahal, "jewel of the palace." She accompanied him on military campaigns, advised him on affairs of state, and was loved by his subjects for her charitable work.
In 1631, Mumtaz Mahal died giving birth to their 14th child. Her heartbroken husband spent approximately two decades, and much of the money in the royal treasury, fulfilling his wife's dying wish by building a monument to their love.
The Taj Mahal is considered one of the wonders of the world. It stands amid acres of gardens on the banks of the Yamuna River in Agra. The most famous part of the monument is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal with its white marble dome, but the 42-acre complex also includes mosques, minarets and other buildings.
In 1657 Shah Jahan fell ill, and in 1658 his son Aurangzeb took the opportunity to imprison his father and seize the throne. Shah Jahan remained in captivity until his death in 1666. It is said he spent the last days of his life staring into a small piece of glass at the reflection of the Taj Mahal, and died with the mirror in his hand. He is buried in the Taj Mahal with the wife he never forgot.
It has been suggested that Shah Jahan never intended to be entombed with his wife, but planned to build a second, black marble Taj to serve as his mausoleum. However, many scholars doubt this story and believe the emperor did indeed wish to be buried near Mumtaz Mahal."
I have heard that after the Taj Mahal was finished, the Shah had all the slaves who built it put to death and the architect who designed had his eyes gouged out (Supposedly because they all had tread on the holy resting place of his beloved, and because they had seen first hand what was partially intended to be 'paradise on earth' I'm not really sure if that all is true or not.
"The Question of the Taj Mahal" (Itihas Patrika, vol 5, pp. 98-111, 1985) by P. S. Bhat and A. L. Athavale is a profound and thoroughly researched and well balanced paper on the Taj Mahal controversy. This paper goes well with the photographs listed below. It uncovers the reasons for the rumors and assumptions of why it is said that Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal, and presents all the inconsistencies of why that theory doesn't hold up. It also covers such things as the descriptions found in the old Agra court papers on the Taj; descriptions and measurements of the building in the old records; Aurangzeb's letter of the much needed repairs even in 1632 which is unlikely for a new building; records that reveal Shah Jahan acquired marble but was it enough for really building the Taj or merely for inlay work and decorative coverings; the observations of European travelers at the time; the actual age of the Taj; how the architecture is definitely of Indian Hindu orientation and could very well have been designed as a Shiva temple; the issue of the arch and the dome; how the invader Timurlung (1398) took back thousands of prisoner craftsmen to build his capital at Samarkhand and where the dome could have been incorporated into Islamic architecture; how it was not Shah Jahan's religious tolerance that could have been a reason for Hindu elements in the design of the Taj; how the direction of the mosque does not point toward Mecca as most mosques do; the real purpose of the minarets at the Taj; the Hindu symbolism recognized in the Taj which would not have been allowed if it was truly Muslim built; and even as late as 1910 the Encyclopaedia Britannica included the statement by Fergusson that the building was previously a palace before becoming a tomb for Shah Jahan; and more. A most interesting paper.
"An Architect Looks at the Taj Mahal Legend" by Marvin Mills, is a great review of the information available on the Taj Mahal and raises some very interesting questions that make it obvious that the Taj could not have been built the way or during the time that history presents, which makes it more like a fable than accurate history. This suggests a construction date of 1359 AD, about 300 years before Shah Jahan.
The True Story of the Taj Mahal. This article by P. N. Oak (from Pune, India) provides an overview of his research and lists his 109 proofs of how the Taj Mahal was a pre-existing Hindu temple palace, built not by Shah Jahan but originally at least 500 years earlier in 1155 AD by Raja Paramardi Dev as a Vedic temple. Mr. P. N. Oak is another who has done much research into this topic, and such a study is hardly complete without considering his findings. The evidence he presents here is a most interesting read, whether you agree with it all or not, or care for some of the anger in his sentiment. Mr. Oak has presented his own conclusions in his books, most notably Taj Mahal--The True Story (ISBN: 0-9611614-4-2).
The Letter of Aurangzeb ordering repairs on the old Taj Mahal in the year just before it is said to have been completed.
The Badshahnama is the history written by the Emporer's own chronicler. This page shows how Aurangzeb had acquired the Taj from the prevous owner, Jai Singh, grandson of Raja Mansingh, after selcting this site for the burial of Queen Mumtaz.
This site http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A5220 gives the BBC's view on the Taj Mahal and briefly explains both sides of the story, that maybe Shah Jahan built the Taj and maybe he didn't
This is one of examples that how doubtful questions from history can lead to hatred. So what if it was a Shiva Temple. At present it known as Taj Mahal, a tomb. Even if it is proved that it was Shiva Temple, now, it is beyond imagination to build a temple on a a tomb. If you want to Analise mythological, it's correct. For that matter why Taj Mahal alone, any grave is an abode of Lord Shiva becks he is said be Smasana Vihari (the one who roams in Graves / graveyards / Crematoriums)
what is the truth behind The Tajmehal originally being an ancient Hindu Shiva temple?
