Agra: Members of Hindu Jagran Manch entered Taj Mahal and allegedly prayed to lord Shiva on the premises of the historical monument.
Ganga jal, Saffron flag
As per the reports, Gaurav Thakur, President of Hindu Jagran Manch Youth Wing entered the premises with ganga jal in water bottle and folded saffron flag in his pocket.
In the video that went viral on social media, he is seen praying while another member of the Manch holding the saffron flag.
CISF
Soon, the CISF personnel reached the spot and took them to their office. The members were allowed to go after an hour of interrogation.
Later, talking to media persons, Gaurav claimed that the Taj Mahal was originally Tejo Mahalaya, a Shiva temple. He also revealed that he had prayed to Shiva on the monument’s premises at least five times in the past.
Gaurav further said that he will pray on the premises in the future too until government hand over the monument to Hindus.
Tejo Mahalaya
Such incidents occurred earlier too. In 2008, Shiv Sena activists had entered the premises of the monument and performed the religious rituals, Times Now reported.
In 2018, a group of women performed puja inside the monument.
A section of the society claims that the monument was constructed by Moghal Emperor Shah Jahan on a Hindu temple called ‘Tejo Mahalaya’.