Taj Mahal doesn't reflect Indian culture, says UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Taj Mahal doesn't reflect Indian culture, says Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The UP CM, who was on a visit to Darbhanga in Bihar on Thursday, June 15, talked about the achievements of the Narendra Modi government and said foreign dignitaries visiting India were now being given copies of the Gita and the Ramayana instead of replicas of the UNESCO heritage site.

"Foreign dignitaries visiting the country used to be gifted replicas of the Taj Mahal and other minarets which did not reflect Indian culture," Adityanath said, according to Telegraph.

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"This is the first time this has happened that when India's Prime minister Narendra Modi goes abroad, or any foreign president visits India, he is gifted the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita or Ramayan," he said. "Whenever Ramayana is gifted to any foreign president, that exhibits the history of Bihar."

Taj Mahal, which was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the 1630s, is among the 10 iconic spots, along with Vaishno Devi and Tirupati temple, that are likely to be cleaned up under Modi's Clean India initiative. The UP chief minister had earlier also visited the stretch of the Yamuna river between the two heritage sites of Taj Mahal and Agra fort and had pulled up officials for dumping untreated sewage in the river.

During his address in Darbhanga, Adityanath also touched upon issues like protection of abandoned cows and employment. His comments came a day after his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar took a dig at him for not doing enough about gau rakshaks.

"Talking big will not work... do something concrete on the ground to protect abandoned cows. Bihar is already working on a project to provide shelter to abandoned cows;" Nitish Kumar had said, adding, "What we say, we do and fulfil promises, unlike those who forget their promises."