The 358th annual Urs celebrations of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan began at the Taj Mahal today with the washing of his and queen Mumtaz Mahal's graves. On Thursday, a procession will be taken out wherein an over 200-metre-long "chadar" will be carried from the inner gateway to the cenotaph chamber in observance of a tradition that goes back several hundred years.
Elaborate arrangements have been made to mark the occasion with poetry reading and a qawwali recital, among other events. It is learnt that entry to Taj Mahal will be free from today to June 7, the three days of the celebrations. This year drums and flags would not be allowed inside the Taj precincts for security reasons, Muazzar Ali, senior conservation assistant at the Taj Mahal said.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of ASI officials, members of the Urs committee and representatives of the Central Industrial Security Force that looks after the security of the Taj, he added. The Urs celebrations are organised by the khadims, or traditional custodians of the white marble mausoleum, who are now employees of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Meanwhile, a man named Yakub Habibuddian Tucy, who claims to be a descendant of the Mughal family tracing his descent to Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor, has arrived here from Hyderabad to take part in the celebrations. Shahjahan was the fifth Mughal emperor who ruled the empire for 30 years from 1628 to 1658 before he was deposed by his son Aurangzeb. He died in 1666.