Allahabad: A petition has been filed in the Allahabad High Court, claiming that the Taj Mahal in Agra has 109 archaeological features which suggest that it was actually ‘Tejo Mahalaya’, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
The temple was ostensibly later converted into an Islamic building by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan, according to the petition.
It challenged a previous Agra court order in which the latter had refused to appoint an advocate commissioner to carry out inspection, videography and photography to map Hindu symbols in the Taj Mahal structure.
The petition has be
en filed by the deity – Lord Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheshwar Virajman – through friend advocate Hari Shankar Jain. The advocate is famed for his advocacy of Hindu rights at Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque, as reported by The Statesman.
The Tejo Mahalaya Temple was constructed in 1155-56 AD by Raja Paramadi Dev, but control thereafter passed on to Raja Man Singh and later to Raja Jai Singh of Ajmer in the 17th century, the petition claims.
It also says that the monument was usurped by Shah Jahan, who then repurposed it to be the monument of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. While a number of Islamic features, it is alleged, were added for this refiguration, Taj Mahal, retains some 109 Hindu features, such as a “Kalash” at the top of the marble dome.
A “gaushala” is situated towards the north-east corner of the structure, the petition claims, adding that it is recorded in the documents of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). A “gaushala” is a Hindu symbol and not found with Muslim mausoleums, the petitioner has claimed.
The original petition to this effect had been filed in 2015 at a lower court in Agra, was rejected in 2019 and the review petition was yet again rejected by the additional district judge in Agra in 2026.