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A group of Shiv Sena activists on Thursday managed to sneak into the Taj Mahal and performed ‘aarti’ and puja inside the precincts. They have been taken into custody.

The Shiv Sena claims the 17th century Taj Mahal is an ancient Shiva temple.

On Monday, they tried to enter the marble mausoleum but were prevented.

They entered the monument one by one Thursday afternoon, fooling the security, gathered inside and performed the puja on the lawns of the monuments.

hey were later released when nothing objectionable was found on them.

The Shiv Sena, which considers the 17th century monument built by Emperor Shah Jahan as an older Shiva temple called ‘Tejo Mahal’, had earlier announced they would perform arti every Monday during Shravan, considered auspicious by Shiva devotees, in protest against the three-day ‘urs’ festival that’s held every year in memory of the Mughal monarch. The Sainiks had tried getting in on Monday as threatened, but the cops had stopped them.

They then later performed a puja outside the Taj Mahal.

On Thursday, without any prior announcement, a group of seven or eight men along with three women bought tickets and entered the Taj premises. Sources said the group, when it got close to the main structure, performed the religious ritual of a parikrama with folded hands. Since all wore saffron scarves, they were recognised and forced to stop the worship. A minor scuffle ensued, after which the cops took them to the police station.

Shiv Sena’s Agra chief Vinoo Lavania said the Sainiks had gone to as ordinary citizens and felt like praying. “What’s wrong with that?” he asked. Shiv Sena also claims ‘Tejo Mahal’ as property of Rangji Temple Trust of Mathura, probably in reaction to frequent claims made on the monument of love by the UP Sunni Waqf Board.

ASI’s incharge of the Taj R K Dixit said: “They came as tourists and bought tickets. They folded hands towards the mosque and went back.”

The fact that the Sainiks managed to enter the monument just days before the three-day ‘urs’ of Shah Jahan that begins on July 29 raises security issues.