The Supreme Court disposed of a plea on Friday, which sought directions to open certain rooms of Taj Mahal, in order to study the ‘real history’ of the monument, as well as put to rest the controversy and claims that it was earlier a Shiva temple called ‘Tejo Mahalaya’.
The Bench of Justice M.R. Shah and Justice M.M. Sundresh came down heavily on petitioner Dr. Rajneesh Singh, who claimed himself to be the media in-charge of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Ayodhya unit and dismissed the petition, calling it a ‘publicity interest litigation’.
The petitioner contended that there was no scientific evidence to buttress the claim that Mughal emperor Shahjahan built Taj Mahal for his wife Mumtaz Mahal by engaging around 20,000 people, who worked day and night for 22 years between 1631 to 1653, to complete the construction.
The plea further sought direction to the Union government to constitute a fact-finding committee, to search the monument for important historical evidence, such as idols and inscriptions, believed to have been kept inside Taj Mahal on the orders of Shah Jahan.
The petitioner had moved the Supreme Court, after the Allahabad High Court had disposed of his plea on the matter.
Singh had claimed before the Allahabad High Court that many Hindu groups have been claiming that Taj Mahal is an old Shiva Temple, which was known as Tejo Mahalaya, a theory supported by many historians as well.
He said these claims have led to a situation, where Hindus and Muslims were fighting with each other and therefore, the controversy needs to be put to rest.
As per the petitioner, there were 22 rooms situated in the upper and lower portion of the four-storied building of Taj Mahal that were permanently locked, with historians like PN Oak and many Hindu worshippers making claims time and again that a Shiva temple lies in those rooms.
A petition had earlier been filed in Agra by six Advocates, claiming that Taj Mahal was actually Tejo Mahalaya Temple palace. In its reply over the matter, the Central government had rejected the claim, calling it ‘concocted’ and ‘self-built’.