Taj Mahal's chamber of secrets: petition to unlock 22 rooms believed to house Hindu idols

Local member of Modi's BJP party says he wants to settle whether the building has Muslim or Hindu roots

The Taj Mahal, in Agra, in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, was deserted for weeks after closing for a second time during the pandemic on April 4, 2021. AFP

Weeks before the closure, tourists had flocked to the Unesco World Heritage Site to mark the anniversary of the death of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. AFP

The palace was first closed due to the pandemic in 2020. Reuters

Tourists visit the Taj Mahal in Agra in September 2020, after it first reopened. AFP

Tourists take their pictures at Taj Mahal in September, 2020. The marble mausoleum has been named one of the 'New Seven Wonders of the World'. AFP

Visitors take photographs against the backdrop of the Taj Mahal in September 2020. Reuters

A deserted Taj Mahal on March 2020. Businesses that rely on tourism have been hit hard by the closures. Getty Images

Tourists wear facemasks as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus in March 2020. AFP

Tourists visit the Taj Mahal under heavy rain in August 2019. AFP

A member of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party has petitioned a court to open nearly two dozen rooms of the Taj Mahal over claims that they contain idols of Hindu gods.

Many right-wing Hindus have been claiming for decades that the ivory-white marble Unesco heritage monument, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his wife Mumtaaz, was a temple devoted to the Hindu god Shiva.

The 17th century mausoleum is listed as one of the new seven wonders of the world and remains a top tourist attraction globally, attracting about eight million visitors a year.

Rajneesh Singh, the petitioner and person in charge of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in nearby Ayodhya city, in Uttar Pradesh, filed a petition at state's Allahabad High Court on Saturday demanding to open the 22 rooms in the basement of the "monument of love".

“There has been a perception in the country that there is a temple inside the Taj Mahal. Many Hindu groups have attempted to offer prayers. I want the truth to come out,” Mr Singh told The National.

“I am not in favour of either mosque or a temple but I want such doubts to be cleared. India is developing and there is no scope for such doubts that cause differences among the religious communities."

Mr Singh said he had received a little information about the sealed rooms from the Archaeological Survey of India, which manages the historical monument and comes under Mr’s Modi’s government.

But he said he was not given any reasons for their closure or any hints as to the contents.

Mr Singh approached the court to ascertain whether the Hindu idols have been locked behind the door.

He has also sought the court to set up a fact-finding committee and the survey to submit a report.

“I want this debate to be settled for once and all. If there is a perception, we need to know the reasons behind it,” Mr Singh said.

The controversy around the Taj Mahal is believed to have originated from a book written by self-styled historian PN Oak, which claims to have evidence to prove the mausoleum is a Hindu temple.

India’s Supreme Court in 2000 had dismissed Mr Oak’s petition to declare that a Hindu king had built the Taj Mahal but since then, his theories have inspired dozens of petitioners, several right-wing political parties and leaders to assume it was a temple.

The Shiv Sena — the ruling party in Maharashtra — routinely holds prayers for Lord Shiva near the Taj Mahal and several Hindu organisations have demanded to stop Friday prayers at the mosque inside the monument.

The survey in 2017 said there was no evidence to suggest the monument ever had a temple, after a petitioner had demanded to rename it as Tejomahalay.