Taj was the icon of India for tourism due to many factors, one of it being its proximity to Delhi, India's capital city and the desire by a "secular" govt not to appear Hindu centric. Taj does not get as much tourism as India's most visited state down south, Tamil Nadu gets because of its big temples.
Foreign and domestic tourist visits by State
Rank State/Union Territory Number
1 Tamil Nadu 4,684,707
2 Maharashtra 4,408,916
3 Uttar Pradesh 3,104,062
4 Delhi 2,379,169
Taj is in Uttar Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is littered with iconic monuments and holy places besides Taj.
It was no propaganda. It was plain and simple reporting both by Pakistani and Indian channels. Indians are not killed in any great numbers. There are about 5 million Indians in US and I doubt even if a half a dozen get killed in a year.