Agra Museum Renamed: "How can our heroes be Mughals?"

Agra : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that under-construction museum in Agra City will be renamed after Maratha icon Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. "How can our heroes be Mughals?" he said in a meeting to review development works in the city, a government statement said. The leader declared that "anything which smacks of subservient mentality" will be done away with by his government.

Later in the day, Yogi Adityanath tweeted that in Uttar Pradesh, there was no place for the symbols of "the mentality of slavery". Earlier, he had renamed Allahabad to Prayagraj.

"Agra's under-construction museum will be known by the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In your new Uttar Pradesh, there is no space for the symbols of "the mentality of slavery". Shivaji Maharaj is our hero. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!" he tweeted in Hindi.

The project to construct Agra museum was approved by Akhilesh Government in the year 2015. The facility is coming up on a six-acre plot near the Taj Mahal in the city, 210 kilometres from the national capital Delhi. The museum will focus on Mughal culture, artefacts, paintings, cuisine, costumes, Mughal era-arms and ammunition and performing arts.

The Mughal dynasty is credited for building several monuments in Agra and Delhi, including the iconic Taj Mahal and Red Fort.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a 16th century Maratha warrior king, fought the Mughals most of his life and is known for his military conquests.