When the Taj Mahal was illuminated for the Yanni concert in 1997, the lights attracted insects which caused damage to it. The Supreme Court has said time and again that the 17-century wonder needs to be preserved
The Taj Mahal won’t be lit up on Independece Day. News18
The country will don its favourite colours: saffron, white, and green in the run-up to Independence Day. The government’s Har Ghar Tiranga campaign has people coming out in hordes, waving the national flag. And almost every monument in the country is illuminated as the 75th Independence Day draws close. It is truly a visual delight.
The Centre, state governments, and even private establishments have decided to light up buildings with tricolour lights. However, one of the wonders of the world, Agra’s Taj Mahal is missing out on the party. It will have to suffice with natural light. But why?
The Supreme Court passed a directive to protect the 17th-century monument and one of the measures involved a ban on lighting it at night.
When was the Taj last lit up
It is interesting to note that the Taj Mahal was one of the first monuments in the country to be lit up after sundown. According to a report by India Today, the Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber Secretary Vishal Sharma said that about 77 years ago, a grand celebration was held inside the monument by military personnel for winning World War II. It is during this celebration that the Taj Mahal was illuminated with floodlights.
Senior officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said that a few low-level security lighting posts were installed at the World Heritage Site in 2015 with the twin purpose of illuminating the Taj and wooing tourists at night, reports news agency PTI.
However, what has stayed in mind is when renowned pianist Yanni performed on 20 March 1997 and the illuminated Taj made for the perfect backdrop, as hundreds watched in awe. Lit up in pink, blue, and yellow, it was a riot of colours.
But once the concert was over and the morning dawned, it brought with it problems of its own.An insect attack
The following morning, the Taj Mahal was ridden with dead insects. According to the chemical wing of the ASI, they had damaged the white marble of the monument.
The insects were drawn by the lights and as these insects sat on the floors and walls, they defecated on the marble structure’s surface. This left a coloured pigment which eroded the marble.
After Yanni’s concert, the Supreme court imposed restrictions saying no programmes should be held in the 500- metre area around the monument.
Harm to the structure
Heritage experts have expressed concerns over the illumination of the monument time and again, saying the lights attract insects, which may jeopardise the structure of the Taj.
A study was conducted in the mid-90s which rejected the proposal to illuminate the monument, citing harm to its surface, according to a PTI report.
No artificial lighting, please
Former Additional Director General of ASI, BR Mani told the Business Standard in 2015, “First of all, Taj Mahal does not need lighting at all. It is a marble structure and can be seen in all its glory in natural night. It is absolutely unwise to illuminate it with artificial lighting, which attracts insects”
“On full moon day, one can see Taj in all its splendour. And, if the government thinks by putting up lights they can attract more tourists, then I am sorry to say this, but Taj Mahal is not a monument to experiment with,” he added.
He had also warned that lighting up the monument at night might pose a security threat.
Other environmental threats
In 2018, the white marble of the Taj Mahal was found turning yellow and green because of high levels of pollution in Agra. The stagnation of the Yamuna River was causing algae deposits on the surface of the Taj, which has left ASI in worry.
In 2018, the Supreme Court slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for not taking enough measures to preserve the monument. A year later, it once again asked the state to file a fresh vision document, detailing the manner in which the monument would be preserved and protected.
A few months later it warned that there will be no “second chance” to preserve the Taj Mahal.
“If the Taj Mahal goes once, you will not get a second chance,” the bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta told a conservation expert, who was heading a team to prepare a draft vision document to save the structure we take so much pride in.
With inputs from agencies
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