Saffron flag waved, 'Shiv Chalisa' recited inside Taj Mahal

Leaders and workers of a saffron outfit waved saffron flags and recited 'Shiv Chalisa' (hymns praising Lord Shiva) inside the Taj Mahal complex in Agra on Monday. Four members of the outfit, 'Hindu Jagaran Manch', including its district president Gaurav Thakur, were later arrested by the police in this connection.

Police sources here said that Thakur and around half-a-dozen other workers of the outfit entered the Taj Mahal complex on Monday and waved saffron flags there. Some of them also recited hymns praising Lord Shiva.

Later, a few videos showing the activists waving saffron flags and reciting the hymns went viral on social media.

Police sources said that the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which was responsible for the security of the Taj Mahal, apprehended four activists, including Thakur, and handed them over to the local police. Others, who were arrested, were identified as Rishi Lavania, Sonu Baghel and Vishesh Kumar.

Thakur had waved saffron flags and recited 'Shiv Chalisa' inside the Taj Mahal complex last year also.

He said that his organisation considered Taj Mahal to be a Shiva temple, which was 'demolished' by the Mughal emperor Shahjahan and converted into a mosque. "For us it (Taj) is an ancient Shiva Temple....we have earlier also performed puja inside the complex,'' he claimed.

The outfit leaders and workers had also tried to perform 'jalabhishek' (offering of the sacred Ganga waters at Shiva temples) inside the Taj complex last year but their attempts were thwarted by the security personnel.