Bollywood Film Re-ignites Taj Mahal Origin Debate Amid Nationalist Tensions

A new Bollywood film, The Taj Story, promotes the long-standing claim that the Taj Mahal was originally a Hindu structure rather than a Mughal tomb, reviving debunked theories and stoking sectarian tensions. Critics say the movie rehashes fringe ideas, blurs fact and fiction, and serves nationalist narratives. The piece traces origins to P. N. Oak, notes repeated court dismissals of the claims, and highlights how the controversy has entered mainstream discourse online, even as historians and the Archaeological Survey of India push back.