The Taj Mahal and four other monuments earned atleast 146.05 crore, which is more than half the total revenue generated by centrally-protected monuments, in 2017-18.
Official data shows that India’s top five revenue-generating monuments were all built by Muslim rulers. These monuments are the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort, Red Fort and Qutub Minar.
Qutub Minar was built by rulers of the Delhi Sultanate, while the rest were constructed by the Mughals.
These five monuments have earned the government 146.05 crore. The Taj Mahal has continued to be the highest earner at Rs 56.83 crore.
There have been a few politicians that have sparked controversy in the last year, by claiming that the Mughal-era monument did not represent Indian culture.
64.58 thousand people visited the Taj Mahal in 2017-2018 compared to 2016 -17 which saw 50.66 thousand people visiting the monument.
In 2017, the UP tourism department had omitted the Taj Mahal, which is a UNESCO world heritage site.
The Argo Fort, which was built by Mughal emperor Akbar, has a total earning of Rs 30.55 crore and is the second highest revenue generator in the last financial year.
The Konark Sun Temple in Odisha came in second after the Taj Mahal, as the Konark Sun Temple has 32.3 thousand visits and generates Rs 10.06 crore as revenue. Officials have said that the temple is mostly popular with Indian tourists, as 32.21 thousand people visited the temple in 2017.
India tourists are charged Rs 30 per head for the entry fee to visit the world heritage monuments across the country. However foreign tourists have to pay Rs 500 each.
“It is impossible to communalise the entire Indian population through the meaningless political venom spewed by politicians,” said historian S. Irfan Habib, explaining the increase in visitors to the Taj.
“No matter what they say about the Taj Mahal and Red Fort, Indians will continue going there,” he added.
