UP government to add 17 viewing points for the Taj Mahal

India News

	UP government to add 17 viewing points for the Taj Mahal According to Amita Verma for The Asian Age, the Akhilesh Yadav government has decided to set up 17 more viewing points for the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (UP) in order to enable tourists to view the monument of love from different angles. The additional viewing points are expected to boost tourist interest in the Taj Mahal, especially on days the monument is closed to public. The Taj Mahal, it may be recalled, is closed for tourists on Fridays when Juma prayers are held inside. The new viewing points will allow tourists to view the Taj Mahal from different angles even on these days. According to Pankaj Kumar, District Magistrate, Agra, the first lot of five benches that will be installed at these viewing points will be delivered within one month and installed at various vantage points on the Taj Nature Walk, the Chandra Shekhar Park, and inside the government forest guest house. “The remaining benches — each of them is being handcrafted — will be delivered later,” he said. Till now, the Taj Mahal had one major viewing point, also popularly known as the Diana bench after late Princess Diana got a solo photograph of herself shot on the bench. The photograph became the first official confirmation of the growing chasm in her marriage to Prince Charles in 1992. Meanwhile, the State Tourism Department plans to begin an Agra Heritage Walk series around the Taj—the tomb of Itmad-ud-daula, and the Kachhpura mosque, among others—to popularise the architectural heritage of Agra.