Again, the Taj sobs alone on "Sharad Poornima"

By VISHAL SHARMA
Agra, 28 Oct. The UP government may have received a conditional permission to open the Tajmahal in November after fulfilling some requirements, but this Thursday, on “Sharad Poornima”, when the moon toured over the Taj at its brightest best, the monument was again standing alone under the bayonets of the paramilitary forces.

After a long gap of two decades, the apex court may have finally given a conditional permission to the state government to open the Taj during five consecutive moonlit nights, but with several restrictions still barring the way, the tourists may have to wait for one more year to witness the once-a-year spectacle of “Chamki” sparkling on the Taj surface on “Sharad Poornima”.

This spectacular resplendent “Chamki” has remained hidden from the eyes of the tourists since 1984, when terrorism in Punjab struck deep on the nerve center of the country. With the advent of terrorism in Kashmir, the security threat on the monument increased several folds and the prospects of the opening this monument by moonlight had grown dim.

According to the security plan for opening the Tajmahal in moonlight, the monument could be opened by moonlight every month for five nights, two nights before and two after full moon night, barring Friday nights, when the monument remains closed every week. Apart from that, the monument shall also remain closed during the holy month of Ramzan and during the yearly “Urs” festival of Emperor Shahjahan.

This year, with the Sharad Poornima falling in the month of Ramzan the hopes of the tourists, who had clustered in Agra to witness this once-a-year spectacle of view the monument bathed in moonlight under the brightest moon of the year, but their hopes were dashed to the ground when the Tajmahal remained closed on Thursday too.

Even in the month of November, the full-moon night is falling on a Friday, a day of weekly closure of the monument. After November, even if the Tajmahal is opened at night, the Taj shall be barely visible under the intense fog that is a common feature of riverbanks. Only in the month of February, shall the tourists have a decent view of the monument, but the much sought after “Chamki” shall still remain hidden from the eyes of the tourists, viewing this moonlit wonder from a distance of 300 meters.

Also, viewing the Tajmahal by moonlight may not come cheap for foreign tourists as the UP government could hike the night time entrance fee of the monument to a premium at anywhere between 40-45 US Dollars.

With the security plan firmly in place, projections have begun to chalk out the various requisites to open the monument during the night which includes the possible hiking of the monument's ticket upto four times the present tariff for foreign tourists which may imply an entrance fee hike from 10 US$ to 40-45 US$.

Providing the details of the proposed security arrangements, District Magistrate Agra Nitishwar Kumar said that during moonlit nights, a total of 400 tourists shall be selected every night for Taj-viewing and they shall be ferried from the Shilpgram parking area in batches of 50 tourists each, in battery buses, accompanied by security personnel. Viewing the monument shall be possible for just 30 minutes, from the red sandstone platform at the entrance of the Monument and barricading will prevent the tourists from venturing any further.

Notably, such an experiment was tried few years back by the Agra Administration in the winter months with the tourists viewing from the main entrance about 300 m away from the monument, which had failed due to intense fog covering the monument. But instead of learning from its past failures, the administration has again sought to allow the tourists to view the monument from the red sandstone platform instead of the central tank, which, although still about 150 m away from the monument, provides a decent view.

Since the monument was closed down during nights, every year, just before a major tourism related event was organized in Agra, the U.P. Government and the local administration raised a hue and cry over the opening of the Tajmahal by moonlight. Though the security of the monument had been taken over by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) more than two years back, its arrangements had so far failed to annul the security concerns of the Apex Court and accordingly, it has instructed the UP government to ensure that the security of the monument is made foolproof before the coming full moon night.

According to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) sources, the installation of IR capable Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) is already in progress and the X-ray baggage inspection system shall also be installed at the Taj gates soon.

“UNN” talked to the foreign tourists viewing the Tajmahal from the Dussehra Ghat on Thursday for their reaction on the possible opening of the Tajmahal during night. Peter & Cori of USA, who were a bit disappointed at finding the Taj gates closed, said that if the Tajmahal is indeed opened during the nights under moonlight, they shall definitely return to India to view this spectacle. Nigel from Australia said that he has heard a lot about the night-time view of the Tajmahal under moonlight and he plans to come back to India on the coming full moon night to view the Taj under full moon, though he appeared a bit disappointed when he learnt that the Taj shall not be opened on the coming full moon night.

Meanwhile, the local tourism organizations have welcomed the decision as a gift for the local tourism industry in the 350th year of the Tajmahal. Mr. Rama Shanker Sharma, founder president of the Foreign Tourist Traders & Exporters Association, Agra said that now, the local tourism industry has got an unbeatable attraction that could lure the tourists into staying overnight in Agra, ending the dry spell for the ailing tourism industry of this city. He says that there was a time that in the year 1975, a record number of five lac tourists had viewed the Tajmahal on Sharad Poornima night. How the Agra administration plans to select just 400 out of the several thousand tourists queued to view this spectacle after twenty years, is beyond comprehension. (UNITED NEWS NETWORK)