By News18,Pathikrit Sen Gupta

Copyright news18

The iconic Mughal-era mausoleum Taj Mahal in Agra reaffirmed its status as India’s most popular centrally protected ticketed monument, leading visitor charts for both domestic and foreign tourists in the financial year 2024-25. This data was disclosed in the latest India Tourism Data Compendium released by the government’s Ministry of Tourism on World Tourism Day, September 27.
The “monument of love”, a UNESCO World Heritage Site protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), attracted a remarkable 6.9 million total visitors during the fiscal year. This impressive footfall accounted for nearly 12 per cent of all tourist entries at the 145 ticketed monuments under ASI’s purview.
Breaking down the figures, the Taj Mahal welcomed approximately 6.26 million domestic tourists and 0.645 million foreign tourists, comfortably topping both categories. This enduring appeal underscores the monument’s global significance and its central role in India’s tourism industry, a position it has maintained for over a decade.
For domestic visitors, other popular sites included the Sun Temple in Konark, Odisha, with 3.57 million visitors, and the Qutub Minar in Delhi, which saw 3.20 million domestic entries. Among foreign visitors, the Agra Fort and Qutub Minar followed the Taj Mahal, each attracting around 0.22 million tourists.
The compendium was released against a backdrop of continued post-pandemic tourism recovery. The total Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India reached 9.95 million in 2024, a 4.52 per cent rise from the previous year, highlighting the sustained rebound in the country’s travel sector. The Taj Mahal’s dominance in visitor numbers serves as a key indicator of this positive trajectory.
Built between 1631 and 1648 by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the exquisite white marble marvel continues to be the undisputed jewel of India’s historical and cultural landscape.