Report by Parvez Sultan for The New Indian Express

The Taj Mahal, India’s iconic white marble marvel in Agra, has once again emerged as the country’s most visited monument, attracting 69 lakh visitors, including six lakh foreign tourists, in 2024–25.

The footfall at the Mughal-era tomb accounted for nearly 12 per cent of all tourist entries at the 145 ticketed monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The 17th-century mausoleum of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal has been the top revenue-generating and most visited monument for more than a decade, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

According to the latest India Tourism Data Compendium released by the Ministry of Tourism, other popular sites for domestic visitors include the 13th-century Sun Temple at Konark (35.7 lakh) and the 12th–13th-century red sandstone tower in Delhi, Qutub Minar (32 lakh).

With 2.2 lakh visitors, the Agra Fort, another Mughal-era structure, stands at second place on the list of historical buildings receiving 2.24 lakh visitors. It is followed by Qutub Minar (2.20 lakh).

Delhi’s Red Fort (28.84 lakh), the Tomb of Rabia Durrani (Bibi Ka Maqbara) in Aurangabad (20.04 lakh), the Ellora Caves in Aurangabad (17.39 lakh), Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad (15.63 lakh), Agra Fort (15.45 lakh), Upper Fort Aguada in Goa (13.58 lakh) and Charminar, which is also in Hyderabad (13.43 lakh), had the highest number of domestic visitors in 2024–25.

Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi (1.58 lakh), Baori at Abhaneri in Rajasthan (1.16 lakh), Fatehpur Sikri (97,000), Itimad-ud-Daulah in Agra (90,367), the Nalanda Excavation Site (88,151), the Red Fort in Delhi (79,311) and the noted ancient Buddhist site Shravasti of Uttar Pradesh, Sahet-Mahet (73,312), are among the top sites frequented by foreign tourists.

The footfall at other ticketed monuments in the year was 2.93 crore, including 6.21 lakh visitors from foreign countries. In total, the ASI’s protected sites received 5.66 crore visitors, of which 24.15 lakh were from abroad.

The statistics on the number of visitors to monuments are maintained by the office of the Director General, ASI, based on the records of the number of tickets sold at the monuments to both Indian and foreign nationals.

There are 3,697 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains under the ASI located in various states and union territories. For administrative purposes, to ensure better conservation and upkeep of monuments, the states and UTs have been divided into 34 ASI Circles and three mini Circles, each under the jurisdiction of a Superintending Archaeologist.