The mortal remains of Khaizul Hasan Qadri, who had been in the news for building a replica of the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife in Kaserkala village of Bulandshahar district, were buried next to her grave on 10 November as per his last wish.

Hasan Qadri (84) died after he was hit by a motorcycle in his village. It was his wish that on his death he should be laid to rest beside the grave of his wife in the memorial identical to the Taj Mahal which he made in her memory.

“Respecting his last wish uncle’s the grave was alongside aunt’s,” said his nephew Mohammed Aslam Qadri, adding that family members and villagers were present at the last rites. Hasan Qadri had in his lifetime dug his own grave adjacent to his wife’s grave and directed family members to bury him there.

The love of Hasan Qadri for his wife will be long remembered by the people of the area. A retired postmaster, Qadri lost his wife Tajjamuli Begum on 24 December 2011. He used to miss her a lot. In May 2012 In her memory, Qadri started constructing a Taj Mahal lookalike in Kaserkala in the two bighas of land where she was buried, said Aslam, adding that he made a map and design of the replica on his own. Local masons and labourers built the Taj replica using bricks and cement.

The construction work started in May 2012 and after some time when it started taking the shape of Taj Mahal, it invited the attraction of people around. Hasan Qadri built it with his own money and did not accept any outside financial help, said Aslam, adding that in 2015 the news reached Lucknow and then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav invited him and offered financial help which he turned down politely. Akhilesh offered him any other assistance and Qadri requested him to renovate his village’s roads and construct a girls college there for which he donated 4 bighas of land adjacent to the Taj replica.

His village was thereafter declared ‘Janeshwar Mishra’ village and a Government Girls’ College was constructed on his land which is now operational. Hasan Qadri earned a lot of respect in the area. Unfortunately, he could not fully complete the replica of Taj in his lifetime.

“He was desperate to complete the construction and had collected Rs 2 lakh to fit stones on the building but unfortunately this could not happen in his lifetime,” said Aslam who is now determined to complete the half-finished monument. Hasan Qadri also wanted the girls college to be named after his wife Tajjamuli Begum but this could not happen despite his best efforts. Now his nephew Aslam has renewed the demand as “it was his wish. I will run from pillar to post to fulfill his desire”.

Hasan Qadri’s death was unexpected and the family was not prepared. “He was healthy but unfortunately met with an accident,” said Aslam. Hasan Qadri was hit by unidentified motorcyclists after which he was rushed to a private hospital in Aligarh where he succumbed on 9 November.

He will be always remembered for his deep affection for his wife that prompted him to build a replica of the eternal monument of love.