Taj Mahal Restoration

Tourism Minister K J Alphons today wondered what was the problem in entrusting a private company with the task of restoring the Taj Mahal under the government's Adopt-a-Heritage scheme, if Italy can turn to a footwear firm to restore the 2000-year-old Colosseum in Rome.

Describing as a "hopeless cause" the protection of the Taj Mahal, the Supreme Court today tore into the central and Uttar Pradesh governments for what it called their "lethargy" and said: "Either we will shut down the Taj or you demolish or restore it."

Tourist Muskan Mahuwakar pictured the Taj Mahal as a dazzling vision of symmetry and beauty but upon reaching the monument, she -- like thousands of other visitors -- was disappointed to find it covered in scaffolding, its once white marble now yellowing due to pollution.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Uttar Pradesh government's restoration plea against its order to demolish a multi-level car parking facility being built within a kilometre of the Taj Mahal on October 27.

One of New Delhi's most famous monuments, a mausoleum that inspired the Taj Mahal, will be officially unveiled today after a six-year refit that has seen it restored to its original form.

Tourism Minister K J Alphons today wondered what was the problem in entrusting a private company with the task of restoring the Taj Mahal under the government's Adopt-a-Heritage scheme, if Italy can turn to a footwear firm to restore the 2000-year-old Colosseum in Rome.

Describing as a "hopeless cause" the protection of the Taj Mahal, the Supreme Court today tore into the central and Uttar Pradesh governments for what it called their "lethargy" and said: "Either we will shut down the Taj or you demolish or restore it."

Tourist Muskan Mahuwakar pictured the Taj Mahal as a dazzling vision of symmetry and beauty but upon reaching the monument, she -- like thousands of other visitors -- was disappointed to find it covered in scaffolding, its once white marble now yellowing due to pollution.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Uttar Pradesh government's restoration plea against its order to demolish a multi-level car parking facility being built within a kilometre of the Taj Mahal on October 27.

One of New Delhi's most famous monuments, a mausoleum that inspired the Taj Mahal, will be officially unveiled today after a six-year refit that has seen it restored to its original form.