Hindutva group performs aarti at Taj Mahal, act raises heritage concerns
Agra : A fresh controversy has erupted around the Taj Mahal after members of the Hindutva organisation Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha performed aarti, offered Ganga water and hoisted a saffron flag at Mehtab Bagh while facing the historic monument.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the ritual was held on the Hindu month of Sawan. An office-bearer of the organisation, Ajju Chauhan, was seen in a video performing the ritual and claiming that the Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple.
The incident is the latest in a series of attempts by Hindu groups to promote the disputed claim that the Mughal-era monument was a Hindu temple. Historians have long rejected the claim, which is not part of the established historical account of the Taj Mahal.
Mehtab Bagh, located across the Yamuna River from the Taj Mahal, is an Archaeological Survey of India-protected historic garden complex and forms part of the monument’s wider heritage landscape.
The latest incident follows an earlier attempt by members of the same organisation to perform a jalabhishek ritual at the Taj Mahal.
The repeated attempts to introduce religious rituals and competing historical narratives around the protected monument have raised concerns over the politicisation of India’s heritage sites and the growing use of historical disputes to promote Hindutva narratives.
The Taj Mahal is recognised as a major historic monument and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Critics say attempts to associate it with unsubstantiated religious claims risk undermining India’s historical heritage and promoting communal polarisation.
