Delhi’s popular monuments open till 9 pm soon

Besides Humayun’s Tomb and Safdarjung Tomb in the capital, the extended timings will apply to Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneswar, Dulhadev Temple in Khajuraho, Sheikh Chilli’s Tomb in Kurukshetra, Group of Monuments at Pattadakal in Karnataka, Gol Gumbaz in Karnataka, Group of Temples in Maharashtra (Markanda), Man Mahal in Varanasi and Rani ki Vav in Gujarat’s Patan.

Safdarjung tomb

The change in timings will be effective for a period of three years, the minister said.

It has not been specified when the change will come into effect.

A senior official of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said, “Keeping the monuments open till late night requires elaborate security arrangements. As soon as that falls into place, we shall implement the move one by one at these sites.”

Most of the monuments mentioned in the list come under the ASI’s purview, while others are temples.

“Some places in the 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,” the minister said.

The government has drawn up a list of 35 monuments proposed to be kept open to the public till 10 pm.

However, a decision was taken by the committee to introduce the new timings in 10 of the sites in the first phase and restrict the time till 9 pm.