Agra: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) not only wants to cap number of Indians that will be allowed to visit Taj Mahal daily, it also wants to cap the number of selfies that can be taken per day.
ASI has stated both the rules will apply to Indians only and there will no restriction on foreign tourists as Incredible India believes in ‘Atithi Devo Bhava”.
On the logic of restricting selfies, Smt. Usha Varma, head of ASI said, “There are many who are coming to Taj just to see themselves on their mobile phone. On top of it many using their substandard phones, selfies leke FB aur Instagram mein post karte hain. These kinds of partial, hazed photos of Taj Mahal in the backdrop does not do justice to a beautiful monument like Taj”.
“Moreover, our photographers do not get chance click adequate quantity of photos to earn their livelihood. By taking selfies from different angles people are unnecessarily spending lot of time at the monument. That’s why we want to restrict number of selfies people can take there. Per person maximum two selfies, those who have decent camera phones five photographs would be allowed”, said Ms. Varma on the new rule.
Ms. Varma added, “Going forward, if we want to keep the Taj Mahal as the most beautiful monument in the eyes and minds of people, we have to restrict number of glances people can take towards Taj Mahal. Over exposure is bad, we must ‘protect’ Taj against it”.
On our query, why these restrictions for Indians only, Ms. Varma said, “As such not many foreign tourists come to India, whoever comes, majority of them come to see Taj Mahal only. If we put restriction on them here at Taj Mahal, phir to koi nahin aayega”.
