By Sharat Pradhan, IANS
Lucknow : Having failed to see anything else working to save the Taj Mahal from yellowing, experts have now come up with a novel idea. They will apply a mudpack to the 17th century white marble monumental wonder next month.
Experts at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) are confident that this non-abrasive experiment could work the same kind of magic that mudpacks do to lend sheen to women’s faces.
“The Multani mud, which is used for facials will be used as a pack for the monument. It will hopefully take away all the depositions from the marble that has turned pale over the centuries on account of pollution,” D.K. Sharma, deputy superintendent archaeologist of the ASI team in charge of the Taj Mahal, told IANS over telephone from Agra.
He admitted that despite the apex court’s ban on the movement of automobiles within one kilometre radius of the monument of love to prevent any damage on account of fuel emissions, the yellowing of the stone has continued.
Multani mud, which has a high content of clay, draws its nomenclature from the place of its origin – Multan in Pakistan. It is found in parts of Rajasthan and Punjab in India as well, where women use it to keep their skin glowing. The mud is known to have a high content of aluminium silicate.
According to N.K. Samadia, the official ASI chemist looking after the maintenance of all mediaeval monuments in Agra, “a Multani mudpack would absorb the suspended particulate matter (SPM) that has apparently got deposited on the white marble.
“This material would get removed with the drying and flaking of the mudpack following which the monument would be given a salt-free water bath for its new look.”
Samadia said that the process has already been tried and tested with successful results on certain other monuments in Agra.
“In any case, since Multani mud is an inert material, there is not even a remote chance of any side effect on the stone of the monument and it surely has tremendous properties to absorb all dirt and foreign material from the surface,” Samadia emphasized.
To be undertaken in phases, the new exercise is expected to start next month. In the first phase, the sidewalls the arches of the monument, one of the world’s seven wonders, will be covered by the special mudpack. It is estimated to cost about Rs. 2.5 million.