What's inside? Photos of closed Taj Mahal rooms released

As debate over the 22 closed rooms in Taj Mahal reverberated in and out of the court last week, the Archaeological Survey of India has released pictures of some of the said underground rooms of the 17th century monument of love. The rooms were opened in January this year for conservation work.

"It was between December 2021 and February 2022 that conservation work was carried out at those cells. The published pictures were from December 2021; even after that a lot more work was done and pictures were taken. Whether they find space in the next issues of the newsletter will be an editorial decision," said an official from the Agra Circle of Archaeological Survey of India.

"It is not just Taj Mahal. We did work at Jama Masjid, Itmad-ud-Daulah and the Agra Fort and some of those pictures have also been published in the January issue of ASI's newsletter," he added.

"The work of maintenance of underground cells on the (Yamuna) river side was taken up. Decayed and disintegrated lime plaster was removed and replaced by laying of lime plaster and traditional lime processing before application," said a text published along with the four photographs of the basement cells in the ASI newsletter.

Archaeological Survey of India officials maintain the "January issue of the newsletter has been in the public domain, it was released by the agency on its website on May 5 and tweeted on its official handle on May 9, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

On May 12, the Lucknow bench of the HC dismissed a petition filed by BJP media in-charge of Ayodhya, Rajneesh Singh, that sought permission to open the "locked rooms" and get a survey done to ascertain the presence of idols of Hindu deities.

After the dismissal of his petition, Singh said that he would approach the Supreme Court and pursue the matter of the "secret" Taj Mahal cells.

Outside the court, Archaeological Survey of India officials had maintained that there is no secret in those rooms and they are just part of the structure and not unique to the Taj Mahal but several Mughal-era mausoleums built at the time – including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi.