Temple or tomb, is the secret locked in 22 doors; Crores of rupees should be opened to open it, hearing in High Court today

Tomb after mosque... Agra after Ayodhya... Shiva temple after Ram temple and the latest controversy is the Taj Mahal. Recently, a BJP worker Dr. Rajneesh has filed a petition in the Lucknow Bench of the High Court. This petition claims the Taj Mahal to be a Shiva temple or Tejo Mahalaya. The hearing was to be held today, but it has been postponed due to the lawyers' strike.

The petitioner says that the suspense about the Taj Mahal remains intact. It should be clear whether it is a Shiva temple or a tomb. If the closed doors of the Taj are opened, this dispute will be buried forever. The court will decide on the petition, but according to experts, it will not be easy to open the 22 closed doors of the Taj.

Heritage in danger, UNESCO's interference and wild spending

There are many obstacles in opening the closed doors of the Taj. First, crores of rupees and many teams of high level experts will be required for tampering with a building having World Heritage status. The second reason is also that the Taj Mahal is a World Heritage Monument, so UNESCO will also intervene in this matter.

Debashish Nayak, Honorary Director, Central Studies and Heritage Management Resources, Peace Research Institute, Ahmedabad, says, 'Taj Mahal is a World Heritage, so tampering with its structure will have to be discussed with UNESCO. Logic has to be given. Only then can you open the doors.'

But is it possible that even if the court directs the ASI to open those doors and the petitioner's claim turns out to be true, it remains a World Heritage? They say, this is far-fetched. But if there is an objective change of the heritage building, then UNESCO will definitely intervene. After that he will take the final decision on this.

The big challenge is to preserve the architecture of the Taj Mahal

Binda, History Professor and Archaeologist, BHU, says, 'The architecture of the Taj Mahal is very unique. You see that from whatever direction you look at the verses of the Quran written on it, they are visible. This means that the artisans and experts of that time, after understanding and scientific analysis of human vision, must have written the verses in such a way that they are visible from a distance and from every angle. In such a situation, if it is decided to open the doors, then first of all, utmost care and work will have to be done with the team of experts.

According to Binda, “Teams will also need to be formed at several levels, first to search the archives, second to the Archaeological Survey of India team and then also a team that is knowledgeable in chemistry. If a structure is even slightly damaged, it will not be easy to maintain. Funds of crores of rupees will be required for all this. In such a situation, if it is decided to open the doors of the Taj Mahal, then first of all the funds will have to be allocated. It will not be a small fund. Many works get stuck midway due to paucity of funds.

Even historians do not know why the doors are closed!

You are a history professor, what do you think, why are these 22 doors closed? On this question Prof. Binda says, “Look, some part of the Konark temple was also closed, but the reason behind it was that it was getting damaged. Had it been kept open for tourists, it would have been further damaged. Now what is the secret behind the closed doors of Taj Mahal, it will be known only after they are opened. My only concern is that if there is a dispute, it should be resolved, but not tampering with the world heritage and the architecture that is an example to the world. Even if something has to be done, then it should be such that the dispute is also resolved and that building remains in its original form.

The petitioner said- it is necessary to raise the curtain to avoid future dispute

Rajneesh Singh said, 'I just want to clear my doubts. Whatever is true will come out. If those 22 doors will open, then it will be known whether it is a tomb or a temple. I don't make any claims as of now. He also clarified that his petition has nothing to do with the party. This is his personal petition.

5 serious questions raised on the Taj Mahal in the petition

1. It has been mentioned in the petition that in many books it is mentioned that in 1212 AD, King Parmardi Dev had built Tejo Mahalaya, which was later inherited by Raja Man Singh of Jaipur. This was later found by Raja Jai ​​Singh. Shah Jahan had demolished the Tejo Mahalaya and made it a mausoleum.

2. There is no mention of Taj Mahal in any Mughal court paper or chronicle, even in the time of Aurangzeb. Muslims never use the word palace. There is no evidence of the existence of this word in any Muslim country.

3. There are three documents of Aurangzeb period - Adab-e-Alamgiri, Yadarnama and Murakka-e-Akbarabadi. In a letter dated 1652 AD recorded in these, Aurangzeb gave instructions to repair Mumtaz's tomb. It is clearly written in it that the condition of the tomb is not good. It is leaking from many places. There are cracks. The tomb is said to be of 7 floors. That is, it is clear that the tomb was very old during the time of Aurangzeb, if Shah Jahan had built it, it would not have become so old after a few years.

4. The name of Shah Jahan's wife is said to be Mumtaz Mahal. That is why it was also named Taj Mahal, but if one looks at the authentic documents, it will be known that Mumtaz's name has been written as Mumtaz ul Zamani.

5. The construction of this tomb was started in 1631 and it was completed in 1653. That is, 22 years took its construction. The time taken to build a tomb also raises doubts.