If you are planning a visit to the Taj Mahal, you will have to spend more money, specifically, an additional ticket of Rs 200 from Monday, in order to be able to see the whole structure or otherwise be content without a visit inside the main mausoleum.
Vasant Swarnakar, Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) chief archaeologist in Agra, said domestic visitors will have to pay Rs 250 and foreign visitors Rs 1,300 to see the main mausoleum at the 17th-century monument. The visitors from SAARC countries will have to pay Rs 740 instead of Rs 540.
The rate hike, as it is seen, is effective for tourists and visitors alike, across price structures. The main purpose behind the new ticketing system is effectively to help reduce the human load on the main structure.
Visitors who buy the Rs 50 ticket would not be allowed to enter the main mausoleum but would be able to move around the Taj and see the rear side, the Yamuna riverfront at the back.
The Taj Mahal is considered one of the finest specimens of the Mughal architecture and is renowned for its architectural majesty all over the world, becoming an unofficial logo of a sorts for the nation.
In 1983, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."
PTI
