aj Mahal: India monument 'not a Hindu temple'
1 December 2015
From the section India
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption The Taj Mahal is a Unesco World Heritage site
India's government has rejected claims by a group of lawyers that the Taj Mahal monument was a Hindu temple.
Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said the government had not found any evidence to support the claim.
The lawyers filed a petition in a court last year saying that the monument should be handed over to Hindus.
The Taj Mahal, a 17th Century mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, a Muslim, after his wife's death, attracts about 12,000 visitors a day.
Six lawyers belonging to the city of Agra, where the monument is located, had told a court there was "substantial evidence" to prove that the famous monument was originally a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.
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