Taj Mahal From Uttar Pradesh’s Tourism List

Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world that draws millions of tourists to the country has been dropped from the list of tourist destinations published by the government of Uttar Pradesh.The new booklet issued by UP Government has removed Taj Mahal and instead carries the name of temples from Mathura, Ayodhya and Gorakhpur in the list.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently criticized the custom of gifting Taj Mahal to foreign dignitaries as it doesn’t represent Indian culture.“Foreign dignitaries visiting the country used to be gifted replicas of the Taj Mahal and other minarets which did not reflect Indian culture,” Adityanath was quoted by The Telegraph.

Earlier too, the Yogi government neglected the World Heritage site by not including it in the special section ‘Hamari Sanskritik Virasat’ (Our Cultural Heritage) of the annual budget for 2017-2018.

The exclusion faced criticism from all sectors of the nation, especially from academicians and historians who slammed the government for not promoting the multi-cultural faith of the country. The identification of Indian Culture with Hindu Culture has sparked criticism in social media too.