The three-day ‘Urs’ at Taj Mahal is to be celebrated this year from February 6 to February 8.
The event is celebrated to observe the death anniversary of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who had the Taj Mahal constructed in 1653, on the banks of Yamuna in Agra.
However, in a new development, a right wing Hindu organization took to court in Agra, filing a petition, and seeking prohibitory injunction against the observation of the event. The petitioner, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha has also challenged free entry inside the Taj for the Urs.
“On Friday, the petitioner ABHM through its divisional head Meena Diwakar and district president Saurabh Sharma filed a petition in the Court of IV Additional Civil Judge (Junior Division) Room No 4 at Civil Court premises in Agra,” said Petitioner’s counsel Anil Kumar Tiwari.
“They have sought for a permanent prohibitory injunction against the committee celebrating the Urs,” he continued.
He further added that “the petitioner has also objected to having entry free at Taj Mahal for Urs.”
The Agra Court has accepted the petition and has fixed March 4 as the date of hearing in the matter.
ABHM spokesperson Sanjay Jat contended that the body had filed the petition on the basis of an RTI which revealed that neither the Mughals, nor the British allowed Urs to take place inside the Taj.
“The petition has been filed on the basis of an RTI filed by a Raj Kishore Raje, an historian of Agra city. In the RTI, he asked ASI who permitted Urs celebration and ‘Namaz’ in Taj Mahal premises. ASI replied that neither Mughals, nor the British government or the Government of India have allowed Urs celebration in the Taj Mahal,” Sanjay Jat told PTI.
“So, on that basis we have filed a petition seeking for the prohibitory injunction, stopping the organisers of Shahjahan ‘Urs’ Celebration Committee, headed by Saiyyad Ibrahim Zaidi, from celebrating the ‘Urs’ at Taj Mahal,” he added.
The three-day Urs sees the rituals of ‘chadar poshi’, ‘sandal’, ‘gusul’, ‘kul’ and others.
On the last day of the ‘Urs, a ‘chadar’ 1880-metre-long or more is offered (With PTI inputs).