The magnificent Taj will reveal only half its splendour for Gen Pervez Musharraf. When the Pakistani President looks up at the dome of the famed Marvel in Marble, one half will be clean and shining as in Shahjehan's time, while the other half will be stained with yellow dirt accumulated over the years The chemical cleaning operations which are under a war footing at this monument of love will take another two to three months to finish, the Archaeological Survey of India, the body incharge of operation Taj wash, said.
"The is part of a four-month project and will take three months to complete. It can not be would up before President Musharraf's visit," Mr S K Singh, incharge of the chemical cleaning operation said. The only thing that will be done to facilitate the General's visit will be that the cleaning contraptions will be removed from inside the monument. It will be work as usual after his departure, Mr Singh said. "Two-and-a-half months is needed to clean just four of the six arches. Then the walls, jarokhas and the floor will have to be cleaned up," Mahesh, a worker cleaning the dome walls, said.
The difference after the cleaning is too stark to be missed. Pristine white, the "treated" portions glitter in the sun in stark contrast to the discoloured portions of the Taj. Unfortunately for Gen Musharraf, a major portion of the monument is yet to be treated. Enter the 17th century monument and the ammonia smell overwhelms you. Next in sight are a dozen workers ferociously cleaning up everything - from the intricate flower carvings on the wall to the roof. A huge iron contraption rises like a phalanx right in the middle of the dome which houses the graves of Shahjehan and Mumtaz Mahal.
The roof of the dome is in two distinct colours - moonwhite and dirty yellow.
A major portion of the murals are covered in sodium carbonate tinged clay packs, a type of marble therapy. These packs have to be in place for over a week before the marble starts getting treated to its original white