A parliamentary panel has recommended the government to explore the possibility of permitting puja and worship at monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that have religious significance.
3,693 centrally protected monuments and archaeological sites are maintained by the ASI.
Of that, a little less than a fourth (820) have places of worship.
The rest are considered non-living monuments where no new religious rituals can be started or conducted.
The sites that have places of worship include temples, mosques, dargahs and churches.
According to ASI rules, prayers are allowed at protected sites only if they were “functioning places of worship” at the time it took charge of them.
The best-known example of a living ASI monument is the Taj Mahal where namaz is held every Friday.
Other notable living monuments include three mosques in Kannauj, Roman Catholic Church in Meerut, Nila Mosque in Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village and several Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh.