City bizman’s Taj proclaims love for mother
Abdul Kadar Shiek Dawood-Jailani Beevi couple from Ammaiyappan village in Tiruvarur shifted to Chennai with five children, including only son Amrudeen Sheik Dawood, and were making a living out of a small business. Though Kadar developed the shop into a hardware store, he soon died while the children were still very young.
The ‘Taj Mahal of South’ that has come up in Tiruvarur
TIRUCHY: To proclaim his love for his mother, a Chennai-based businessman has constructed a mini Taj Mahal in his ancestral village in Tiruvarur in one acre land. The 8,000 sqft building, built at Rs 5 crore, is now luring visitors from across the State.
Abdul Kadar Shiek Dawood-Jailani Beevi couple from Ammaiyappan village in Tiruvarur shifted to Chennai with five children, including only son Amrudeen Sheik Dawood, and were making a living out of a small business. Though Kadar developed the shop into a hardware store, he soon died while the children were still very young.
Jailani Beevi, however, gained courage and took charge of the store to mend for the family. As Amrudeen grew up, he supported her in the business. After his sisters got settled, he also got married.
Three years ago, in 2020, Jailani Beevi passed away due to a brief illness and Amrudeen struggled a lot to overcome the loss. Praying for her peace, Amrudeen started serving free food, mainly biriyani, to at least 1,000 people every month.
In due course, he wanted to proclaim his love for his mother and came across the idea of constructing a memorial. He spoke to a builder-friend and shared the idea of a mini Taj Mahal dedicated to his mother. He identified one acre land at Ammaiyappan village, his ancestral place and started constructing the Taj Mahal.
He brought the granite from Rajasthan while builder-friend took care of the design which resembled the Taj Mahal in Agra. He also designed parks and pathways similar to Taj Mahal and the 46-ft minerva.
On June 2, Amrudeen dedicated the Taj to the public. It has meditation centres where people of all faiths can meditate and a madrassa where 10 children are staying.
Since the opening was done without fanfare, the news about Taj reached people slow. Visitors are now thronging the place to have a glimpse of the ‘Taj Mahal of South”.