The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking the “real age” and “real history” of the Taj Mahal, PTI reported.
The petition was filed before a bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar by a Haryana resident named Surjit Yadav.
“Do not drag courts into everything,” the bench said, according to the Hindustan Times. “Can we determine what is the age of the Taj Mahal or the historical facts behind it after 400 years?”
It added: “We are not here to reopen history. Let history continue.”
The court then allowed Yadav to withdraw his plea and make a representation before the Archaeological Survey of India, according to PTI.
In his plea, Yadav had contended that as per his research, a mansion already existed at the site where the Taj Mahal is built.
“It is extremely strange why all the court chroniclers of Shah Jahan have not mentioned the name of the architect of this magnificent mausoleum,” he wrote in his plea. “Therefore, this quite clearly indicates that the mansion of Raja Man Singh was not demolished but only modified and renovated to create the current look of the Taj Mahal. That is why there is no mention of any architect in the accounts of the court chroniclers of Shah Jahan.”
Mughal emperor Shah Jahan had commissioned the construction of the Taj Mahal in 1632 and the project was finished in 1653. However, some Hindutva pseudo-historians have propounded the theory that the mausoleum pre-dated Shah Jahan and was built long before Mughal rule began in India.
In October, the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition seeking to open 22 rooms of the Taj Mahal to check if they contain Hindu idols or scriptures.
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