Taj Mahal sits on stolen property: Subramanian Swamy

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday said he has access to documents that suggest the property where Taj Mahal was built was stolen by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan from kings of Jaipur.

"There is evidence on record that Shah Jahan forced the Raja-Maharajas of Jaipur to sell this land on which Taj Mahal presently is standing, and he gave them a compensation of forty villages, which is nothing compared to the value of the property," Swamy told ANI.

Swamy added he will release the copies of the evidence to the media soon.

"The documents also suggest that there was a temple on the property. But it is still not clear whether Taj Mahal was built after the demolition of a temple," asserted Swamy.

He further said that the BJP has no intention of demolishing Taj Mahal, but only want three temples out of thousands demolished under the Muslim rule.

"We have decided that of all the temples demolished, during the Islamic period, we want only three, which are Ayodhya's Ram, Krishna's Mathura and Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi. These three, once they are restored, we won't be concerned about the remaining forty thousand," said Swamy.

The iconic monument is caught in a storm since BJP MLA Sangeet Som said it was built by traitors and could not be included in the Indian history.

Following Som's statement another BJP leader Vinay Katiyar courted controversy on Wednesday when he claimed that the Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple and that its name should be changed.