Lucknow: A petition has been filed before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court seeking a direction to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to open the doors of more than 20 rooms inside the Taj Mahal complex. So that the alleged dispute relating to “History of Taj Mahal” can be put to rest. The petition has been filed by Rajneesh Singh, who claims to be the media in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Ayodhya unit.

The petition sought a direction to the government to constitute a fact-finding committee and “search for important historical evidence” such as statues and inscriptions hidden inside the Taj Mahal on the orders of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The petition, filed through advocate Rudra Vikram Singh, argued that several Hindu groups are claiming that the Taj Mahal is an old Shiva temple known as Tejo Mahalaya. The petition said that these claims have created a situation where Hindus and Muslims are fighting among themselves and hence the dispute needs to be put to an end.

“It is said that the Taj Mahal was named after Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal, although in many books the name of Shah Jahan’s wife was mentioned as Mumtaz-ul-Zamani not Mumtaz Mahal, this is also a fact That it takes 22 years to complete the construction of a mausoleum which is beyond reality and completely absurd,” the petition said. “Many books of history have it that in 1212 AD, King Parmardi Dev built Tejo Mahalaya Mandir Mahal. The temple was later inherited by the then Maharaja of Jaipur, Raja Man Singh. After that, the property was held and managed by Raja Jai ​​Singh, but was taken over by Shah Jahan (in 1632) and later converted into a memorial for Shah Jahan’s wife,” said Singh.

Singh said there are 22 rooms in the upper and lower part of the four-storey building of the Taj Mahal which are permanently locked and many Hindu worshipers believe that those rooms have a temple of Shiva. “It is respectfully submitted that since the Taj Mahal is an ancient monument, and crores of rupees are being invested for the conservation of the monument, true and complete historical facts about the monument should be disclosed to the public.”