This is good news for tourists wanting to visit the magnificent Taj Mahal and watch the ancient grand monument on a moonlit night the Supreme Court on Wednesday modified its 2004 order and instructed authorities to start an online ticketing facility instead of a physical collection of tickets 24 hours earlier which was rather cumbersome.<\/p>\n
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka changed the top court’s order which said tickets had to be collected physically from the ticket counters 24 hours earlier than the scheduled visit.<\/p>\n
Senior advocate ADN Rao, who is aiding the court as amicus curiae detailed the difficulties faced by the tourists and said that if one like to see the Taj Mahal, a UNESCO world heritage in the moonlight, they have to purchase a ticket 24 hours earlier and as a natural consequence they have to stay overnight in Agra.<\/p>\n
“When the 2004 order was passed, there was no such facility available for online ticket purchase but now technology is available. It will save time and resources for people, who like to visit the Taj Mahal at night and enjoy its view in moonlight,” Rao said. He said that due to rush during the day time, tickets were directed to be sold 24 hours earlier for night viewing of the monuments.<\/p>\n
Night viewing of the Taj Mahal is spectacular and highly popular among tourists especially on full moon nights when the cool white marble gleams in the moonlight with its haunting beauty.<\/p>\n
The Taj Mahal \u2009’Crown of the Palace” is a Mughal ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the River Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was tasked in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628\u20131658) to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centerpiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.<\/p>\n
The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around \u20b932 million, which in 2020 would be approximately \u20b970 billion (about US $1 billion). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Various types of symbolism have been employed in the Taj to reflect natural beauty and divinity.<\/p>\n
The Taj Mahal<\/a> was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage”. It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India’s rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts more than 6 million visitors yearly and in 2007, it was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World (2000\u20132007) initiative.<\/p>\n You might also want to read https:\/\/www.hamslive.com\/news\/2022\/01\/16\/from-jahangir-to-alamgir-muslims-bloodshed-in-mughal-empire\/<\/a><\/p>\n