Key Points :
- Taj Mahal and Agra Fort to reopen from Monday, 21st September
- Strict rules will be followed after the opening
- Guidelines for the visitors will be put up all around
- E-tickets will replace ticket counters and handheld detectors will substitute frisking.
The seventh wonder of the world was shut since March due to the nationwide lockdown in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Promising to bring the tourism industry back on track, the District Magistrate has recently given orders to reopen the Taj Mahal from September 21. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials have made all necessary arrangement for the reopening.
Only 5,000 people a day are allowed to visit the Taj Mahal and 2,500 a day at the Agra Fort. Social distance, wearing a mask and sanitizer are mandatory.
The visitors will be issued e-tickets as no ticket counter will be set up. Foreigners will need to buy Rs. 1,100 entrance tickets and domestic visitors must pay Rs. 50 per ticket to enter in. To view the graves of Emperor Shah Jahan and his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, an additional Rs. 200 ticket should be purchased. Tourists can click solo pictures, but to get clicked with someone else, they will have to follow social-distancing norms.
Further, no tourist will be frisked during security checks. Tourists will be scanned by a security person using a handheld detector after passing through the metal detector. Twice a day sanitization will be done daily of areas that will have more number of tourists at the Taj Mahal.
The closure of the Taj Mahal on 17 March affected dozens of hotels, photographers, guides and others who relied on its status for livelihood. Approximately, 10,000 families have been impacted due to the closed down Taj Mahal since 6 months. Hoteliers have started preparation for the tourists after the government decided to reopen the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort for the general public from September 21.
