Tag: Taj Mahal history

SC Dismisses PIL to Right ‘Wrong Historical Facts’ on Taj Mahal, Second Such Petition in 2 Months

‘We are not here to reopen history. Let history continue,’ the bench said.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, December 5, refused to entertain a plea seeking removal of what the petitioner claimed were “wrong historical facts” related to the construction of the Taj Mahal from history books. This is the second such petition it has heard in the last two months.

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar, according to LiveLaw, asked the petitioner, “What kind of PIL is this?”

“The PILs are not meant for fishing enquiry. We are not here to reopen history. Let history continue. The writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn. The petitioner is granted liberty to make representation to the ASI. We have not expressed any merits on the same,” the bench said, reported PTI.

In October, the Supreme Court dismissed a similar petition which sought directions to study the “real history” of Taj Mahal, LiveLaw had reported. The bench had called it a “publicity interest litigation.”

The top court was hearing a plea filed by Surjit Singh Yadav seeking direction to the Union government to remove what he alleged were “wrong historical facts” related to the construction of the tomb from history books and textbooks.

The plea also sought directions to the ASI to carry out a probe into the age of the Taj Mahal. The 17th century monument is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The petitioner contended that his “research shows that a magnificent mansion already existed at the site where the body of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal was placed in a dome-like structure.”

“It is extremely strange why all the court chroniclers of Shah Jahan have not mentioned the name of the architect of this magnificent mausoleum. Therefore, this quite clearly indicates that the mansion of Raja Man Singh was not demolished but only modified and renovated to create the current look of the Taj Mahal. That is why there is no mention of any architect in the accounts of the court chroniclers of Shah Jahan,” the plea submitted.

In May this year, Bharatiya Janata Party leader  Rajneesh Singh had filed a petition before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court seeking the “true history” of the tomb and directions to the ASI to open the doors of 22 sealed rooms within the Taj Mahal to put to rest an alleged “controversy” regarding its history.

Podcast: Shah Jahan’s Firman Granting 4 Properties for Taj Mahal Land Available in Jaipur Museum, Diya Kumari Can Read it

Author and blogger Rana Safvi explains why the Taj Mahal could not have Hindu idols and the history of the land.

Do the closed rooms in the Taj Mahal contain Hindu idols? Is the land on which the monument stands owned by the former ruling family of Jaipur? These questions got media attention recently, once again raising doubts about the mausoleum built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal in the 17th century.

In this podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia, author and blogger Rana Safvi answers these questions explaining why it could not have idols and what is the history of the land. Safvi has written extensively on the Taj Mahal, quoting academic and historical sources.

Many important documents are available for anyone to read, including Shah Jahan’s firman exchanging the land for four havelis with Jai Singh, then Maharaja of Jaipur, which is in the Jaipur museum.