The Taj Mahal in Agra is a beautiful sight for tourists. For three days, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to make entry free.
On February 27, 28, and March 1, tourists will be able to visit the Taj Mahal for free.
According to ASI officials, a three-day Urs of Shah Jahan will be performed in the Taj Mahal on these three days, culminating in this exemption for tourists.
Every year, on the occasion of Urs, this exemption is granted. In fact, on World Tourism Day, entry to the Taj Mahal is free.
Dr. Rajkumar Patel, ASI’s Superintending Archaeologist, said that on the first day of Shah Jahan’s Urs, February 27, from 2 p.m. to sunset, all of the monuments were open to the public.
All tourists will be acknowledged free on the first day of Shah Jahan’s Urs, February 27, from 2 p.m. to sunset, as per Dr. Rajkumar Patel, ASI’s Superintending Archaeologist.
“On February 28, the same schedule will be followed. The next day, March 1, the last day of Urs, there will be free entry from sunrise to sunset. Due to Shah Jahan’s three-day Urs and an increase in the number of tourists, the Taj Mahal’s security arrangements are being enhanced. He stated that “all tourists will be obliged to follow the Covid-19 protocol in attempt to acquire free access to the Taj Mahal.”
Shahjahan’s 366th Urs begins in Agra-
According to mythology, Emperor Shah Jahan loved his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was created as a symbol of the emperor’s love after she died.
Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb is located within the Taj Mahal, and Shah Jahan is buried alongside his wife. Every year, the emperor’s ‘Urs’ are held at the historical location, with authorization from the Supreme Court. The Urs celebrates the Mughal emperor’s death anniversary.
From the 10th to the 12th of March, the Emperor’s 366th Urs will be celebrated at the Taj Mahal. Locals and visitors alike can visit the place for free.
However, India Today posed a query to the Urs Committee members, namely, why isn’t Mumtaz Mahal’s Urs remembered annually at the Taj Mahal, seeing that the Taj is historically devoted to her? The query received no satisfactory response.
According to Shamshuddin, President of the Approved Guides Association, the Taj Mahal’s foundation was placed on June 22, 1632, and the first Urs of Mumtaz Mahal was observed on the same day.
During that era, the entire royal family participated in the Urs, dressed in white. Shah Jahan had read the holy Quran and gave 50 thousand gold coins to the impoverished. In 1633, Mumtaz Mahal’s second Urs was observed. However, after 1719, there are no written records of her Urs being commemorated.
A L Srivastava, a historian, wrote about the Syyed Brothers’ invasion on Agra in 1719 in his book. The royal treasury was captured by Hussain Ali, and it featured, among other treasures, the pearl ‘chadar’ draped over Mumtaz’s grave at the Urs. The Urs celebration came to a halt after the chadar was taken.
During the British occupation of India, the practise of commemorating Shah Jahan’s Urs began, and the British also enacted an Act establishing the number of days to commemorate the Urs.
Because Shah Jahan’s Urs is commemorated every year at the mausoleum, social activist Vijay Upadhyay has urged that the emperor’s wife’s Urs be revived as well, given the Taj Mahal was erected in her honour.
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