The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) released pictures of two areas inside the Taj Mahal in the ASI January 2022 newsletter. The release comes soon after a plea hearing in the Allahabad High Court intending to open 22 doors inside the structure so as to ascertain the presence of “Hindu idols.”
The pictures released by the ASI show two angles of the inside of the Taj Mahal where maintenance work is underway. Before and after pictures of the maintenance work show a part of the domed ceiling and a doorway of the a room under the main mausoleum.
“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,” reads the 20th page of the newsletter.
On May 12, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court head the plea of Dr Rajneesh Singh, the media in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ayodhya. His plea claimed that many groups have come to know that the Taj Mahal is an old Shiva Temple which was known as ‘Tejo Mahalaya’.
“Around 20 rooms in the Taj Mahal are locked and no one is allowed to enter. It is believed that in these rooms, there are idols of Hindu gods and scriptures,” Singh said.
He said that it fell under his constitutional Right to Information to enter the rooms in question, a claim that was denied by the bench.
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