Taj Mahal is turning yellow due to pollution, conservators will cover it with mud

Delhi - The famous Indian tomb Taj Mahal is acquiring an unpleasant yellow color due to air pollution. To restore the white luster for which one of the world's most visited monuments is renowned, the Indian parliamentary committee has proposed to temporarily cover the entire structure with mud. This procedure has been used in the past to clean the marble of the mausoleum.
     The Committee for Transport, Tourism, and Culture stated in its report that the yellow color of the 17th-century monument is caused by a layer of dirt and soot particles found in the upper layers of air around the tomb located near the northern Indian city of Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
     To restore the original beauty of the tomb, which was erected by the ruler Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal after her death during the birth of their fourteenth child, the committee plans to cover it with mud, which will be allowed to dry and then washed away. As the mud dries, it absorbs the accumulated dirt. The procedure will take about two months, wrote the AP agency.
     The renovation will cost $230,000 and will need to be repeated every two or three years, said Indian archaeologist P. Dayalan from the organization that oversees the maintenance of this monument, which holds a prominent place on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
     The construction of the tomb, situated on a marble pedestal amidst ornamental gardens, took 22 years and involved 20,000 workers. Historians report that the complex, which was designed with the help of experts from the Middle East and Europe, was completed in 1654.
     Annually, about three million tourists visit the mausoleum by the Yamuna River, who for ecological reasons must park about three kilometers away from the tomb, which is reached by an electric bus or a horse-drawn carriage.