The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has released photographs of the closed underground cells on the riverside of the Taj Mahal in Agra. The images show two spots where maintenance work was undertaken recently.
“The work of maintenance of underground cells on the river side was taken up. Decayed and disintegrated lime plaster was removed and replaced by laying of lime plaster and traditional lime processing before application,” a newsletter of the Archaeological Survey of India stated.
Repairs were also carried out on the gateways located in the Tajganj area and around the Taj Mahal. The grand double arched gateways -- Katra Umar Khan Gate, Katra Resham Gate, Katra Fulel Gate, Dakhani Darwaza -- are one of the few original remnants of the settlement of Tajganj.
"The work of removal of old and decayed lime plaster and lakhauri bricks was done with the new one. For repairs roof of the Katra Fulel Gate was opened and old decayed lime mortar, etc. was removed and replaced with the new one," the Archaeological Survey of India newsletter added.
The Taj Mahal has been in the news after a petition was filed in the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court by BJP's media in-charge of Ayodhya Dr Rajneesh Singh. He sought to open the 22 closed rooms inside the mausoleum and cited claims of some historians and Hindu groups about the mausoleum actually being an old Shiva temple.
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.
The plea was rejected and the bench told the petitioner to get a Masters degree or PhD and do research on the topic and slammed him for making a "mockery" of the public interest litigation (PIL) system.
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Rajasthan, Diya Kumari -- who is also a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family -- has claimed that a palace of the Jaipur royal family stood on the land where the Taj Mahal was built and that the plot historically belonged to the Jaipur royal family. She also claimed that the family has documents to prove it.
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