By IANS,
Agra: Taj Mahal, the 17th century monument to love, is expected to receive some 20,000 tourists on Valentines Day.
According to travellers and industry experts, around 12,000-15,000 domestic and overseas tourists come to see the Taj daily. The figure zooms on Valentine’s Day each year.
The reason is not hard to seek.
“Amazing really! That’s what true love is all about, Shah Jahan building the Taj Mahal for his beloved (Mumtaz Mahal),” said James, from Australia, as he gaped at the marble marvel.
For French national Marie, her trip to the city is as much about the Taj as it is about the “Indian experience”.
She, along with scores of others, watched an 80-minute show, “Mohabbat – the Taj”, at the Kalakriti auditorium.
“This show focuses on the intense love, poetically presented in all the royal opulence and splendour of the Mughal period,” programme in-charge Yashwant Singh said.
Sandeep Arora, a hotelier of Taj Ganj area, said: “Each day, thousands of married, likely to be married and live-in partners visit the monument of love to cement their relations.
“It is widely felt that a pilgrimage to the Taj strengthens love and injects a degree of commitment on both sides. No other monument radiates these kinds of emotional sentiments.”
Of course, the Taj city has its share of sceptics as well.
Rakesh Gupta, who runs a gift shop in Sanjay Place commercial complex, is perplexed about the hullabaloo surrounding Valentine’s Day.
“Love ought to be a sentiment guiding our lives each day of the year. Why only one day when you ritualistically purchase a gift and mechanically hand it over to your loved one? It’s a passing fad,” he said.
But he quickly added that the “fad” was good for his business.