May 11: A written petition has been filed in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court demanding the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to open the 22 locked rooms of the Taj Mahal to prove the existence of a Shiva Temple and Hindu idols.
The petition was filed by the media in charge of BJP’s Ayodhya unit, Rajneesh Singh. In his petition, Singh claimed that the Taj Mahal was built over a Shiva Temple called Tejo Mahalaya and that the locked rooms in the mausoleum should be opened because they contained Hindu idols and scriptures.
As per the petition read, “Some Hindu Groups and reputable Sanths are claiming this monument as an old Shiv Temple which has converted into a mausoleum by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan.
Some people also believe that Tejo Mahalaya alias Taj Mahal appears to be one of the Jyotirling i.e. the outstanding Shiva Temples.”
His plea further states that there are, “certain rooms situated in upper and lower portions of the four-storied building which are permanently locked and many Historian like P N Oak and crores of Hindu Worshiper strongly believes that in those locked rooms, a temple of Lord Shiva is present.”
For the unversed, theories about Taj Mahal being a Shiva temple started circulating when historical revisionist P.N Oak released his 1989 book Taj Mahal: The True Story.
He claimed it was built in 1155 AD and not in the 17th century and was built on a Hindi temple.
