Prior to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s visit to the Taj Mahal on 26 October, activists of a Hindu group recited Shiv Chalisa on its premises. But doing so came at a price.
The Central Security Industrial Force (CISF) took the workers into custody, and released them only after a written apology. The Hindu activists were reportedly from Aligarh and Hathras.
Adityanath is slated to visit Agra on 26 October. He will stop by at the Taj Mahal for about half an hour.
“The Pooja in Tejo Mahalaya Was Stopped”
Bharat Goswami, president of Hindu Yuva Vahini of Aligarh, said they were stopped from worshipping Lord Shiva during the reign of ‘Hindu Sarkaar’, no less. Shiva is worshiped on Monday, hence it was natural that the chalisa was being recited in ‘Tejo Mahalaya’, a Hindu temple before the Mughals destroyed it to build the Taj Mahal, he said.
Superintendent of Archaeology (Agra) Vikram Bhuvan said not everyone's mobile is checked in the Taj Mahal. The activists were reciting the Shiv Chalisa on video when they were spotted by a CISF personnel. When they were stopped by police, they tried to defend themselves.
(This story was originally published in Quint Hindi. Translation by Chandni Sharma.)
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