Allahabad High Court on Thursday (May 12) dismissed a petition filed by BJP leader Rajneesh Singh asking for a fact-finding panel to establish “the real History of Taj Mahal”, and for more than 20 sealed “rooms” to be opened to look for the possible presence of idols of Hindu gods on the premises of the monument.
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A petition has been filed before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court seeking a direction to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to open the doors of over 20 chambers inside the Taj Mahal premises. It is hoped that whatever is found will put the controversy related to the "history of Taj Mahal" to rest. The petition, filed by Dr Rajneesh Singh who is the media in charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ayodhya unit, has sought the constitution of a fact-finding committee as the idols of the deities are locked up behind these chambers. These chambers were closed a few decades ago because of security reasons by the ASI.
While filing the PIL Rajneesh Singh said he has been trying to get details about the locked chambers since 2020 through the Right to Information Act (RTI) and his petition was submitted to the Union Ministry of Culture. But instead of providing the details of these chambers, the ministry said that these rooms were locked due to security reasons. Singh said he had also asked for the opening of these chambers.
"Since all my efforts have failed, I have no alternative but to approach the High Court for its directives to the ASI to open these chambers and find out whether and what idols and scriptures are kept there," Singh said. The PIL seeks historical evidence about idols and other materials hidden there on the instructions of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The plea, filed through advocate Rudra Vikram Singh, said that many Hindu groups have been claiming that the Taj Mahal is an old Shiva Temple which was known as Tejo Mahalaya and this is supported by many historians as well. These claims, the petition said, have led to a situation where Hindus and Muslims are fighting with each other and therefore the controversy needs to be put to rest.
Narrative
Narrative These “chambers” of the Taj Mahal form the platform on which the actual building rests. The structure is situated on a reclining piece of land beside the river, writesM Hasan The decades-old saffronised controversy over the history of the Taj Mahal has finally landed in the Lucknow bench of the High Court for its archaeological adjudication. These “chambers” form the platform on which the actual building rests. The structure is situated on a reclining piece of land beside the river. According to historical evidence from Shah Jahan’s reign, historians have gathered information as to how the foundations were laid to give a firm base to the superstructures, especially on the riverfront. According to historian Prof Ali Nadeem Rezavi of Aligarh Muslim University, “at the time of laying the foundation, the chief architects the Muhandis and/or the mimar first chalked out the plan on the ground and then the diggers excavated the foundations to considerable depths. The foundations of the Taj Mahal were built on stone and watertight mortar-Sooraj.” The PIL filed by Ayodhya-based BJP leader Dr Rajneesh Singh has pointed out that “there were 22 rooms situated in the upper and lower portion of the four-storied building of the monument which was permanently locked and historians like PN Oak and many Hindu worshippers believed that in those rooms lies the temple of Shiva”. The PIL has “submitted that since Taj Mahal is an ancient monument, and large sums of money are being invested for the preservation of the monument, the correct and complete historical facts about the monument should be disclosed to the public.” “It is said that Taj Mahal was named after Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal, however, in many books the name of the wife of Shahjahan was described as Mumtaz-ul-Zamani, not Mumtaz Mahal. The fact that the construction of a mausoleum takes 22 years for completion is beyond reality and totally an absurdity,” the PIL stated. The PIL said, “It is there in many history books that in 1212 AD, Raja Paramardi Dev had built Tejo Mahalaya temple palace (presently Taj Mahal). The temple was later inherited by Raja Maan Singh, the then Maharaja of Jaipur. After him, the property was held and managed by Raja Jai Singh but was annexed by Shah Jahan (in 1632) and later it was converted into a memorial for the wife of Shah Jahan.” Taj Mahal is a perfectly symmetrical original monument representing the finest architectural and artistic achievements through excellent craftsmanship and perfect harmony of design. Its foundation was a herculean task to build as in those days. The standard cloggy soil was usually avoided for construction due to its unstable nature. Taj Mahal has been recognised as one of the “seven wonders” of the world and a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1983. In February 2018 the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had tried to set the controversy at rest by filing an affidavit in Agra court in which the agency made it clear that the Taj Mahal was the tomb of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal and that claims that it was a Shiva temple, “Tejo Mahalaya,” were imaginary. The ASI affidavit further said that “the Supreme Court had already decided what parts of the Taj Mahal are to be opened and what should be closed, so there was no need for a review of the matter”. The ASI had also observed that the entire controversy originated from a book by PN Oak-Taj Mahal-The true history, which claimed Taj Mahal’s Hindu origins. Dr Ravi Panwar of IIT Jabalpur writes, “because of the age of the structure, initial drawings used for the construction of the monument are no longer available. Also, with the time conditions around the site have altered significantly. Therefore, the exact construction details of the foundation are not known”. But the structure still stands tall and intact even after so many centuries essentially because of the construction technique employed in its foundation.https://www.news9live.com/india/asi-had-buried-taj-mahal-controversy-long-ago-but-pil-wants-it-dug-up-afresh-169216
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