Taj Mahal controversy: Hearing of petition seeking to open 22 rooms pushed to May 12
India Today
A petition by BJP media in-charge, Ayodhya, has asked the ASI to examine the 22 locked rooms of the Taj Mahal. The hearing at the Allahabad High Court has been postponed to May 12 after a strike by the Awadh Bar Association.
The hearing of the petition for opening the 22 rooms of the Taj Mahal has been postponed to May 12 owing to a strike by the Awadh Bar Association. The petition, filed in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, has asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to examine the 22 locked rooms of the Taj Mahal to check for the presence of Hindu idols.
The petition, filed by Rajneesh Singh, BJP media in-charge in Ayodhya, cites the claims of some historians and Hindu groups about the mausoleum actually being an old Shiva temple. The petition has sought the ASI to form a special committee to examine the locked rooms and release the report to the public.
Singh said that the demand is not to make the Taj Mahal a temple but to bring out the truth of the matter for the sake of social harmony. He said that the only way to end such controversy is by examining closed doors.
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The petitioner is being represented by Advocate Rudra Vikram Singh, who said that due to the strike by the Awadh Bar Association, the hearing could not be held.
TAJ MAHAL CONTROVERSY
The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. He had commissioned the structure in 1631 and the construction had begun the next year. The marble monument took 22 years and 22,000 workers to be finally completed in 1653.
