New Delhi: There’s good news for history and heritage enthusiasts. In a bid to promote tourism and ensure more footfall in historical monuments, the government has decided to extend visiting time of 10 popular structures across India from sunrise till 9 pm. At present, gates of most monuments are closed by 6 pm.
Apart from the Humayun and Safdarjung tombs in Delhi, the list of eight other monuments prepared by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneswar, Dulhadev Temple in Khajuraho, Shekh Chilli Tomb in Kurukshetra, Group of Monuments at Pattadakal in Karnataka, Gol Gumbaj in Karnataka, Group of Temples in Maharashtra (Markanda), Man Mahal in Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi) and Rani ki Baav in Paatan Gujarat.
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More time will increase visitor footfall
Sources in the ministry told ThePrint that the decision to extend visiting time was taken keeping in mind the popularity of these monuments and after studying footfall patterns of these places.
“Some places in this list are temples that are popular both among tourists and locals. People also visit temples at night. Hence, a decision was taken to extend their visiting time beyond 6 pm,” said a government source, who did not wish to be named.
Another source added that this extension will boost popularity of some monuments where more tourists were not able to enter due to restrictions of time.
At present, no popular monument, not even the Taj Mahal, is kept open beyond sunset. Official visiting time for Taj Mahal is from sunrise (6 am) to sunset (6.30 pm). Ironically, the mausoleum does not find a mention in this list, which according to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was the most visited and revenue generating historical monument in the year 2017-18.
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