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Taj Mahal not a religious place: UP minister

By Monitoring report
October 23, 2017

AGRA: A state minister in India has said that Taj Mahal is just a beautiful building and not a religious place.

UP’s minister in-charge of religious affairs and culture, Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary speaking in Mathura said if Taj Mahal itself was a religious place, then Emperor Shahjahan would not have constructed a mosque in the same premises, Times of India reported.

The minister added, "I can say that Taj Mahal is the pride of our country and is beautiful building but it is not a place for 'Ibadat' (worship). Taj Mahal me aaj tak kisi Hindu ne keertan nahi kiya, kisi Muslim ne namaz adda nahi ki, na hee kisi Christian ne prathna ki hai (Neither any hindu nor a Muslim or a Christian has ever held their prayers there)."

The minister's remarks come close on heels of his earlier statement in Hathras district that "Taj Mahal is not the symbol of any religion and (it is) nobody's. It does not represent any religion". Chaudhary had in fact justified UP government's decision to keep the monument out of the state government's tourism booklet and had even suggested the inclusion of Gorakhnath Peeth in the list.

Later while clarifying his statement the minister said that there is no comparison between Gorakhnath Temple which is a place of "Spirituality" and Taj Mahal, which is a "mere place of beauty and tourism".

Recently, Haryana cabinet minister, Anil Vij had dubbed Taj Mahal as a "beautiful graveyard" (khoobsurat kabristan). He had claimed that the monument is considered "inauspicious" and thus people do not keep its replicas in their houses.

Sangeet Som, the controversial BJP MLA, had recently stated that the 17th century monument as a "blot" on India's culture because it was built by Shah Jahan, who imprisoned his father. Som's statement was however, denounced by opposition parties and public intellectuals, as it was Shah Jahan who was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb.

Senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar waded into the controversy, saying the Taj was originally a temple to Lord Shiva called the 'Tejo Mahal'.

The Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is among India's top tourist destinations but has received a barrage of negative comments from senior BJP leaders, including UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath who had in June last said that the ivory-white marble mausoleum didn't represent "Indian culture".