Delhi High Court has asked the ASI to investigate the originality of Taj Mahal.

Delhi HC directs ASI to probe Hindu Sena’s plea on ‘wrong facts’ about Taj Mahal.

The Delhi High Court has asked the ASI to investigate a plea by the Hindu Sena claiming that the Taj Mahal was not built by Shah Jahan. The plea seeks to correct allegedly incorrect information in history books about the Taj Mahal’s construction and age. 

Harekishna Das Goswami | HENB | New Delhi | Nov 4, 2023:: Again the historicity of Tajmahal in its connection with Mughal emperor Shah Jahan has been questioned by Hindu Sena. The Delhi High Court has asked the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to look into Hindu Sena’s  representation plea that the Taj Mahal was not constructed by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The plea mentions that the white marble architectural marvel was ‘renovated’ by Shah Jahan.

The Taj Mahal is believed to have been built in Agra between 1631 and 1648, according to UNESCO.

The plea by the Hindu Sena representation seeks that alleged factually wrong information about the Taj Mahal, its age, and who constructed it should be corrected in history books.

The Hindu Sena claims that the Taj Mahal is ‘palace of Raja Man Singh’, which was later ‘renovated’ by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela disposed of the public interest litigation (PIL). The high court noted that the petitioner had earlier filed a plea with similar prayers before the Supreme Court, which had allowed him to withdraw it after he proposed to give a representation to the ASI.

The apex court had in December 2022 refused to entertain the plea regarding the Taj Mahal, saying PILs were not meant for seeking a “fishing enquiry” and courts were not there to reopen history.

On Friday, petitioner Surjit Singh Yadav’s counsel told the high court that he gave a representation to the ASI in January this year but has not received any response yet.

Yadav, the president of NGO Hindu Sena, has claimed in his PIL that “wrong historical facts” are being taught and shown to the public about the construction of the Taj Mahal.

The plea sought direction to the authorities to remove allegedly factually wrong information on the construction of the Taj Mahal by Shah Jahan from history books and textbooks referred to in schools, colleges, universities and other institutions. It also sought direction to the ASI to carry out a probe to ascertain the age of the monument.

Raja Man Singh was a general of Mughal emperor Akbar, the grandfather of Shah Jahan.

The 17th century Taj Mahal located in Agra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Earlier in March 2015, a team of lawyers led by veteran Ram Janmabhoomi advocate Hari Shankar Jain demanded worship rights in Tajmahal as a Hindu Temple. But, that demand was also denied later by an Agra Court.

A plea in Allahabad HC in May 2022 was also filed  to unlock 22 rooms kept in mystery  at the basement and sidewalls there in Tajmahal to verify its connection with an old Shiva temple there. The case also did not find any justice to reveal the truth.

In August 2017, The Central Information Commission (CIC) had directed the Union culture ministry to clarify its stand on whether the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built by Shahjahan or a Shiva temple gifted to the Mughal emperor by a Rajput king. The matter was not answered by ASI in  positive tune. 

The eminent researcher on Tajmahal and historian Purushottam Nagesh Oak clearly claimed that Tajmahal was an ancient Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.

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__Inputs from Mint and links used above.