In Five Years, Five Monuments Built by Medieval Islamic Rulers Generated Over Rs 548 Crore Revenue

Srinagar: Since it came to power in 2014, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has been on an overdrive to vilify the Mughals. But the five most popular monuments built by the country’s former Muslim rulers have generated hundreds of crores in revenue for the Union government over the last five years, official data shows.

Data tabled in the parliament by the Ministry of Culture on April 3 has revealed that Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, Qutub Minar and Red Fort in New Delhi, Agra Fort and the Tomb of Rabia Durani in Maharashtra have been the five most popular Mughal-era monuments for tourists.

In the five year period from 2019-20 to 2023-24, the Union government earned Rs 548 crore from the sale of tickets to tourists at these five monuments, which also create direct and indirect employment for thousands of people in the government, hospitality and related sectors. The amount the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) spends on these monuments is far less; in the city of Agra, for instance the ASI spent Rs 23.52 crore in 2023-24 on the maintenance of all protected monuments – while ticket sales at the Taj Mahal alone earned Rs 98.5 crore in the same year.

“At a time when Mughal rulers are castigated and ridiculed by the BJP leaders, the same government is earning huge revenue from their mausoleums and heritage sites. This is a real hypocrisy and exposes their dual character,” Raja Muzaffar Bhat, a Srinagar-based social activist, said.

A Right to Information (RTI) application has revealed that 2.2 crore tourists visited the Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the country’s most visited Mughal monument in the Uttar Pradesh city of Agra, in the five-year period between 2019-20 and 2023-24, generating revenue of Rs 297.33 crore.

Data revealed by the ASI in response to the RTI application filed by M.M. Suja, a Srinagar-based transparency activist, has revealed that Rs 535.62 crore revenue was generated at Taj Mahal between 2015, a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn into office, and September 2024 end, from the sale of tickets.

The ASI, which falls under the Union Ministry of Culture, charges a domestic tourist Rs 50 while foreign tourists have to cough up Rs 1,100 each for visiting the architectural marvel which was commissioned by the 17th century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

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For visiting the main mausoleum of the Taj Mahal, which was built between 1632 to 1648 and is widely recognised as one of the seven wonders of the world, all visitors have to purchase a separate ticket which is priced at Rs 200.

In the past, many saffron party leaders and Hindutva outfits have amplified claims, without evidence, that the Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple that was built much before the reign of Shah Jahan. The ASI has, however, rejected these claims.

As per ASI data, at least 106 persons are employed by the government at the Taj Mahal.

On April 4, 2023, Assam BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi said that he had recommended to Modi that the Taj Mahal be demolished and a temple built in its place.

The Qutub Minar is the country’s second most popular Mughal-era monument, which recorded 92.13 lakh tourist visits in the five-year period, generating revenue of Rs 63.74 crore, according to official data tabled in the parliament.

If the average of five years is applied to the previous five years since 2014, the 12th century monument built in Mehrauli area of south Delhi by Qutb ud din Aibak and Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish appears to have approximately generated Rs 178.08 crore revenue from the sale of tickets to domestic and foreign tourists in ten years.

In the past, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has alleged that Qutub Minar was ‘Vishnu Stambh’ while demanding that the government should rebuild the Hindu structures in the Qutub Minar complex which are believed to have been demolished to construct the monument.

“The ensemble of mosques, minars, and other structures in the Qutb Minar complex is an outstanding testimony to the architectural and artistic achievements of Islamic rulers after they first established their power in the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century,” a noting on the UNESCO website about the 13th-century UNESCO World Heritage site states.

The Red Fort, where the prime minister raises the Indian tricolour on the Independence Day each year and also delivers a nationally broadcast address from its ramparts, is the fourth most popular Mughal monument in the country.

According to official data, around 90 lakh tourists visited the fort in the five-year period, generating revenue of Rs 54.32 crore.

A historic fort also commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1639, the ASI has approximately earned Rs 140 crore revenue from the sale of tickets at the fort since 2014, per average ten-year projections.

The Agra Fort, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the fourth most-visited Mughal-era monument in the country which recorded 69.61 lakh tourist visits from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024, generating revenue of Rs 64.84 crore.

According to the ASI data, the fort, which was built in 1565 by the Mughal emperor Akbar, recorded around two crore visitors from 2015, a year after Modi came to power, till September 2024 while the total revenue generated stood at Rs 178.83 crore.

At least 35 persons have been employed by the government at the fort, the ASI said in response to the RTI application.

The Tomb of Rabia Durani in Aurangabad of Maharashtra is the fifth most visited Mughal monument in the country. The tomb was commissioned in 1660 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s son, Prince Azam Shah, in the memory of his mother Dilras Banu Begum.

Also known as Bibi Ka Maqbara, the mausoleum recorded 42.14 lakh tourist visits from 2019 till 2024 and generated revenue of Rs 68.51 crore during this period.

The RTI application has also revealed that the ASI is in charge of at least a dozen centrally protected Mughal monuments in the national capital, of which there are several dozen.

These include Khan-i-Khana, Sultangarhi Tomb, Tughlaqabad Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, Hauz Khas, Safdarjung Tomb, Kotla Firoz Shah and Purana Qila which cumulatively generated more than Rs 42 crore in the five-year period from the sale of tickets.

Even though the Mughal-era monuments have contributed significantly to the government’s coffers, the BJP and Hindutva outfits linked to the saffron party have, as part of their majoritarian politics, consistently accused the country’s former Islamic rulers of “loot and plunder”.

Opposition parties have alleged that the BJP was conspiring to demolish the monuments built by the Mughals who ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from 1526 to 1857.

In 2022, former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud opened a pandora’s box when he observed that the law did not bar ascertaining the religious character of a place of worship in the country. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act prohibits changing the character of religious places from how they existed on August 15, 1947.