Hindu activists on Wednesday staged a protest outside the ASI office in Agra after an Ayodhya seer claimed in a video that he was denied entry to the monument because he wore saffron cloths and carried a ‘Brhamdand’.
The seer’s claim in the viral video triggering the protest prompted the Archaeological Survey of India officials to deny the allegation, saying the seer was denied entry not because he was wearing saffron robes.
Referred to the seer’s ‘Brhamdand’, a stick covered with saffron clothes and having a religious significance, the Agra ASI circle official Raj Kumar Patel told PTI that the security personnel denied ‘Swami ji’ the entry because he refused to deposit “an object” in a locker near the entry gate.
Had the Swamiji explained the religious significance of the 'Brahmdand', the security staff would not have denied him the entry, he said.
The ASI even allowed a group of protesting activists to enter the monument later in saffron clothes with one of them also carrying the ‘Brahmdand’, Patel said.
Hindu activists staged the protest after a video surfaced on social media with the seer identifying himself as “Jagad Guru Paramhansacharya from Ayodhya district” and alleging that he visited Taj Mahal with his two disciples on Tuesday but was denied entry to the monument.
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In the video, he said the ASI and security personnel stopped him from entering the Taj Mahal premises due to his saffron clothes and also asked him to keep the 'Brahmdand' outside.
"I came here as it is Tejo Mahal and a temple of Lord Shiva. Students have been taught false history that it is Taj Mahal," he added in the video.
Denying the seer’s allegations, Patel said "We have the video footage of the Swamiji in which he is seen at the security point of the western gate of Taj Mahal." "Swamiji was not stopped from entering the Taj Mahal premises due to his saffron attire. The ASI and security staffers had asked him to keep an object he was carrying with him at the locker room or outside the Taj Mahal premises," he added.
"We have to follow security procedures and for that everything is checked properly," he said, reiterating that had Swamiji explained the religious significance of ‘Brahmdand’ he would have been allowed entry.
The seer in the video said he will return on May 5 and if denied entry, he will not tolerate insult to saffron.