By Sakshi Dayal NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Toxic smog obscured India's famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, as well as Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and delayed flights on Thursday,

A dense smog blanketed the Taj Mahal in Agra on Thursday as pollution levels surged, obscuring the iconic monument from view. Tourists captured visuals showing the Taj Mahal nearly invisible behind the haze.

Toxic smog obscured India’s famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, as well as Sikhism’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and delayed flights on Thursday, becoming too thick to see through in several places.

Toxic smog obscured India's famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, as well as Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and delayed flights ..

The iconic monument, Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh's Agra, was blanketed in a thin layer of haze even as the city's air quality was recorded 'satisfactory' on Sunday morning.

Toxic smog blanketed northern India on Thursday, becoming too thick to see through in several places, as high levels of pollution combined with humidity, low wind speed, and a drop in temperature, officials said.