Taj Mahal Re-Opens for Public after 6 Months

Taj Mahal, the architectural wonder of the 17th century, closed since March 17 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, opened on Monday to the public. Around 160 tickets were booked online, but a tourist from Taiwan staying in India was the first to enter, officials said.

In two shifts per day, a maximum of 5,000 visitors will be allowed into the monument which will be a sight for sore eyes with its well-manicured lawns, Hindustan Times reports.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials said that, despite its gates having remained closed for so long, they had not ignored the monument.

Strong Covid-19 procedure to inspect visitors will be observed. Visitors can scan the code to buy tickets or book online via the ASI website or mobile app. There will be no window ticket sale.

Not many paid Rs 200 for visiting the main mausoleum, but more content appeared to take pictures of the monument and click on the 'Diana seat.'

“Lawns were maintained all through these six months and we are all set for the Taj re-opening from September 21 - from sunrise to sunset. All would go through thermal check and they would be provided with sanitizer,” said AN Gupta, conservation assistant, ASI at Taj Mahal.  

Gupta said that no more than five visitors would be allowed in the main mausoleum housing the tombs of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal at one time. Taj Mahal will remain closed on Fridays,' said Prabhu N Singh, district magistrate of Agra.

Vasant Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist for ASI’s Agra circle, said, “The Taj Mahal will have visitors in two slots - pre-lunch and post-lunch. In each slot, there would be a maximum of 2,500 visitors. Once tickets for the first slot are sold, tickets will be issued for the second slot. In a day, a maximum of 5,000 visitors can visit Taj Mahal.”  

The jawans of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will stay at a distance and will track visitors with hand-held metal detectors.

While no goods are to be carried inside Taj Mahal, there would be an ambulance at the gates ready, Gupta said.

The reopening of the Taj has delighted all those who live in and around the monument. Munawwar Ali, 50, for example, started cleaning products for the first time since March 16 at his marble goods shop on Sunday.

“We have called the staff on Monday after six months. We expect business to be slow but at least we will see tourists going to the Taj,” said Ali who has a shop adjoining the western gate of the monument.  

‘Yes, we are excited about the reopening of the Taj after such a long duration. A day will come when international flights will resume. In the beginning, domestic tourists from nearby regions would come,” said Rajiv Tiwari, president of the Federation of Travel Association of Agra.

“ASI needs to follow the Covid-19 protocol so that all goes smoothly. The government should begin thinking about restarting international flights as European nations have resumed tourism. We have to live with the coronavirus,” Tiwari added.  

Indians will have to pay Rs 50 per ticket for Taj Mahal's visit and shell out Rs 200 more to reach the main mausoleum. It was mainly international visitors who used to pay extra to access the main mausoleum on regular days.

Experts in tourism trade note the Taj Mahal had never been closed for such a long time before. The decision to close monuments in the country because of the Covid-19 pandemic was made on March 17, prior to the lockdown.

“It is perhaps for the first time that the ‘monument of love’, which attracts a large number of tourists to India, had been closed for such a long time,” said Arun Dang, former president of Tourism Guild.  

“This is unprecedented. Though the monument was closed during the Second World War and also during two wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, the closure had not been so long,” said Dang.