How ‘Tejo Mahalaya’ theory gathered steam in U.P.
AGRA: In the summer of 2015, a group of seven petitioners filed a plea before the civil judge (senior division) in Agra. The case number 356, filed by all lawyers had an extraordinary ask: Allow Hindu devotees access to the premises of the Taj Mahal for worship because the iconic 16thcentury Mughal monument, one of the most recognisable buildings on the planet, was originally a Shiva temple called Tejo Mahalaya. The petitioners said the court should allow Hindu devotees to perform “darshan” and “aarti” within the monument, where currently only Muslim devotees are allowed to pray at a mosque that abuts the world heritage monument. They also asked for opening locked rooms there.
The petition was filed in the name of Sri Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheswar Virajman Tejo Mahalaya Temple Palace by next friend Hari Shankar Jain, the main petitioner. Next friend is a legal representative of someone incapable of maintaining a suit directly.
“There are at least
109 archaeological features and historical evidence to establish beyond any doubt that the suit property is a Hindu temple. The structure of the main building is on a marble platform, in square layout and has eight faces, both outside as well as from inside; and the three faces on East, West and South are entries to the sanctum sanctorum, while the North side is closed with a ‘Marble Jali’. These are essentially the structural features of every “Shiwala” in North India,” said Jain in the petition.
The petition was not successful, and is still pending in the lower court in Agra. But a nearidentical petition with similar asks was filed in the Allahabad high court last week, seeking directives to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to open 20 rooms inside the Taj Mahal to check for the possible presence of Hindu idols.
“It is said that Taj Mahal was named after the name of Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal. However, in many books, the name of the wife of Shah Jahan was described as Mumtaz-ul-Zamani, not Mumtaz Mahal. Also, the fact that the construction of a mausoleum takes 22 years for completion is beyond reality and totally an absurdity,” the petition stated.
The new petition comes at a time when Hindu groups are pushing for their claims to be recognised at two other major sites — the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Masjid complex in Varanasi and the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah complex in Mathura. In both cases, Hindu activists allege that Hindu structures were demolished to build Islamic structures.
In Agra, the controversy over the Taj Mahal, considered one of the modern wonders of the world, was first stirred by historian Purshottam Nagesh Oak’s 1989 book Taj Mahal: The True Story. In the book, Oak claimed Taj Mahal originally was a Shiva temple and a Rajput palace named Tejomahalaya, which Mughal emperor Shah Jahan seized and adopted as a tomb.
The theory has been repeatedly debunked by several historians, and even by the Union government in a response to Parliament in 2015. Yet, it continues to find traction, and has increasingly become popular among a section of Hindu activists.
In 2000, the Supreme Court rejected a petition by Oak to declare that the Taj Mahal was built by a Hindu king.
In the 2015 Agra case, when the court issued notices to the central government, Union ministry of culture, home secretary and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the latter said in August 2017 that Taj Mahal was not a temple but a tomb. On the basis of available records, ASI asserted that Taj Mahal was constructed by Shah Jahan in the memory of his queen on land obtained in exchange from Raja Jai Singh, grandson of Raja Maan Singh, the Maharaja of Jaipur.
“Thereafter, the petitioners had moved an application in the Agra court on October 25, 2017 demanding videography and photography of the closed chambers of the architectural marvel through the advocate commissioner, but the application was rejected on the ground of lack of specifications. The petitioners filed a revision against this order of the civil judge, Agra. Now May 25, 2022 is fixed as the date for a reply in the court of the additional district judge (Second) Agra,” said Rajesh Kulshrestha, the counsel for the petitioners.
In November 2015, the Union culture ministry told the Lok Sabha that there was no evidence of any temple at the Taj Mahal.
Historians have also disputed these claims. “There are historic documents and references about a purchase being made by Shah Jahan from Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur for this prime land on the bank of the river Yamuna. There might have been some temples in such vast land but the theory of erecting Taj Mahal at a site which earlier was a temple does not hold ground,” said RC Sharma, a veteran historian of Agra. “Much discussion about the possibility of Shiv Temple began after the book by PN Oak but there is enough reference and material which goes against it,” he added.
Despite this, the theory has become popular among a section of Hindu activists.
In May 2017, right wing organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, staged a protest at the Taj Mahal. Later, some of them entered the monument wearing saffron. Shiv Sainiks in Agra make it a point every year to offer water from the Yamuna as a ritual in the Hindu holy month of Shravan.
In November 2018, Rashtriya Bajrang Dal women’s wing district president Meena Diwakar managed to offer an “aarti” at the mosque within the Taj Mahal premises.
In January 2021, four Yuva Vahini activists of Hindu Jagran Manch were arrested for reciting Shiv Chalisa and waving saffron flags on the Taj Mahal premises. It was a near-repeat of a October 2017, when a dozen young men recited Shiv Chalisa in Taj Mahal, but were stopped by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel and later released after tendering an apology.
On May 4, a seer from Ayodhya was stopped from moving towards the Taj Mahal after he gave a call for a Dharam Sansad at the monument, claiming it was a Shiva Temple. The seer called himself Jagadguru Paramhans Acharya of the Peethadhesh-war Tapaswi Chhavni in Ayodhya. He also announced his intention to install a Shiva idol at the monument, alleging that it was a temple. He was taken to the outskirts of Agra by police and later asked to return to Ayodhya.
Hindu activists are hopeful that the May 4, 2022 petition – which is yet to be heard – will be successful. On Monday, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha activists led by Sanjay Jat, national spokesperson, distributed “laddoos” as they moved towards the Taj Mahal but were stopped at the barrier before the western gate by state police. “Urs can be observed within Taj Mahal premises and biryani distributed in the Taj Mahal premises, but we are not even allowed to distribute laddoos,” Jat said.