New Delhi: The teaser of Paresh Rawal’s upcoming film The Taj Story has brought the popular ‘Tejo Mahalaya’ conspiracy theory back to public discourse. Theories about the monument being a Shiva temple began doing the rounds when historian PN Oak released his 1989 book Taj Mahal: The True Story. The film, written and directed by Tushar Amrish Goel, is now treading the same path.
The teaser opens on a striking visual of the monument with Rawal gazing at it, seated on a bench. “Taj Mahal is one of the greatest monuments of the world. For some, it is a tomb and for some, a temple,” says Rawal’s character.
The film’s poster was released on 1 October. It showed Rawal with a miniature of the monument, lifting the dome to reveal a Shiva idol inside. It faced immediate backlash, and Rawal removed it from his social media accounts.
He then shared a disclaimer from the makers of The Taj Story, saying the film ‘doesn’t deal with any religious issue’ and only focuses on ‘historical facts’.
— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) September 29, 2025
Responding to a query on X, Rawal wrote that the film is based on Oak’s book, along with other sources.
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Repeated claims
In his book, Oak claimed the monument was built in 1155 AD and not in the 17th century, as stated by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). He also claimed that the name ‘Taj Mahal’ was an obscure corrupted form of a Sanskrit term ‘Tejo Mahalay’.
Since then, multiple petitions have been filed in various courts over the issue. Oak himself petitioned the Supreme Court in 2000. The court dismissed the petition, commenting that he had a “bee in his bonnet”.
In 2015, a group of six lawyers petitioned the Agra district court on the same issue, based on the ‘evidence’ given in Oak’s book. They demanded that the basement of the Taj Mahal be opened and all rooms be searched for evidence of the monument’s Hindu origin.
In 2017, the ASI filed an affidavit in an Agra court, declaring that the Taj Mahal was indeed the tomb of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It hasn’t stopped people from finding credibility in the theory.
In 2017 and 2020, BJP leaders Vinay Katiyar and Kapil Mishra have claimed that the Taj Mahal was originally Tejo Mahalaya.
In 2022, BJP MP Diya Kumari from the Jaipur royal family also claimed that the land on which the Taj Mahal stands belonged to her ancestors.
In the same year, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to open 22 rooms of the Taj Mahal to check if they contain Hindu idols or scriptures. The petition was filed by Rajneesh Singh, who was then in charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s media desk in Ayodhya.
Now, Rawal’s film is taking the audience back to the question. The teaser ends with him asking the viewers, “What do you think? What is Taj Mahal’s story?”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)