In a gesture of affection for his wife, Anand Prakash Chouksey constructed a scaled-down version of the Taj Mahal over three years at a cost of Rs 2 crore in Burhanpur, a city in central India's Madhya Pradesh state. The miniature replica, completed in 2021 and home to Chouksey and his wife Manjusha, stands 800 kilometres from Agra and serves as both a monument to his devotion and a functional family residence where the couple continues to live together. A video showcasing the replica uploaded by an Instagram influencer has garnered close to 200 million views, bringing the project widespread attention online.
The undertaking presented considerable challenges. Chouksey sourced Makrana marble from the same quarries that supplied the original 17th-century structure commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his queen, Mumtaz. He brought specialist artisans from Agra and Rajasthan to execute intricate stone carving and inlay work, and engaged experts in Surat to craft Mughal-inspired furniture. The team rebuilt walls, arches and other elements multiple times to achieve precise alignment with the original proportions.
