A PIL filed by Dr. Rajneesh Singh before the Allahabad High Court requested the court that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) shall conduct a survey and open the doors to over 20 rooms within the Taj Mahal premises, the PIL filed for resolving the alleged controversy surrounding the “history of Taj Mahal”.
The Petitioner Dr Rajneesh Singh claimed to be the media in charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ayodhya unit.
Accordingly, The petition requested that the government form a fact-finding committee and “look for important historical evidence” such as idols and inscriptions believed to be hidden inside the Taj Mahal on the orders of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
The petition advocate Rudra Vikram Singh, further claimed that many Hindu groups have claimed that the Taj Mahal is an old Shiva Temple known as Tejo Mahalaya, which is supported by many historians.
According to the petition, these claims have resulted in Hindu and Muslim conflicts, causing fighting each other, and such controversy can be resolved by fact-finding formed by Government.
Historians claimed that the Taj Mahal was named after Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal, but in many books, the name of Shahjahan’s wife was described as Mumtaz-ul-Zamani, not Mumtaj Mahal, and the fact that the construction of a mausoleum takes 22 years to complete is beyond reality.
Further, The petitioner Advocate Singh stated that in total there are 22 rooms permanently locked in the upper and lower portions of the four-story Taj Mahal building, and as per PN Oak (historians) and many Hindu worshippers believe that those rooms contain the inscriptions and are shiva temples.
Case Details: Dr. Rajneesh Singh v Union of India and Ors