Row after Uttar Pradesh seer demands relocation of photo gallery inside Taj Mahal
India Today
A seer from Uttar Pradesh staged a dharna outside the Taj Mahal demanding a photo gallery inside the monument to be relocated.
Ruckus ensued after a seer from Uttar Pradesh's Orai sought relocation of a photo inside the Taj Mahal. The seer identified as Matsyendra Goswami staged a dharna at the Royal Gate demanding the photo gallery inside the monument to be relocated.
The seer demanded the photo of Radha-Krishna be relocated as the portrait is currently placed next to a washroom. He threatened that if the picture was not removed, he would enter the monument and perform pooja.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) staff was alerted as soon as the dharna started and the seer was told that the photo gallery has been in the same place for 20 years.
The gallery was placed here by India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and contains pictures of world heritage monuments in India in chronological order.
However, the seer refused to budge from the gate, after which he was taken to the local ASI office by the police and ASI staff, where he was assured that the ASI would look into this issue.
After discussing the matter with ASI Archaeologist RK Patel, the seer decided to end his dharna, but he gave an ultimatum of two days to the ASI to relocate the gallery, otherwise, he would stage another dharna at the busy Bijlighar crossing.
Notably, Goswami had also come to the Taj Mahal on May 22, when he had first noticed the picture gallery at the Royal Gate of the monument and expressed his anger over its placement.
