Court seeks response of ASI, Centre on petition to declare Taj Mahal a temple

AGRA: A court here has sought a response from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Centre on a petition seeking to declare the Taj Mahal a Hindu temple.

The petitioners, who are local lawyers, have demanded that the closed portions of the 17th century Mughal monument be opened so that Hindus could to perform their religious rites.

The petition has been filed in the court of District Civil Court (senior division) Agra, which issued notices to the ASI, Union Home Ministry and Union Tourism and Culture Ministry and sought their responses by May 6, one of the petitioners Rajesh Kulshreshtra said.

A same petition by Kulshreshtra was rejected by civil court here last month.