Emboldened By ASI Report, Thousands Of Devotees Flock To Disputed Bhojshala Complex To Offer Prayers

Dhar: Thousands of devotees on Tuesday flocked to the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex on Tuesday singing bhajans and chanting Hanuman Chalisa, day after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) submitted its survey report to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, detailing the presence of a Hindu temple before the mosque was built. Hopeful that the MP High Court decision will provide relief to the Hindu side, one devotee told Republic, "The whole Hindu samaj is excited. We are glad that the ASI's report came in our favour." Another devotee told Republic that they had no intention of hurting anyone's sentiments as they were only following an "age-old" tradition.

According to the ASI's report, which runs into more than 2,000 pages, there were chants of 'Om Namah Shivaya' written and carvings of several deities present on pillars. In the ASI's report, there were a lot of old paintings of animals like snakes and elephants on the walls, according to our sources. ASI sources further revealed that such carvings of deities like Brahma, Narsimha among others and pictures of animals, which are not existent in mosques, were found while conducting the survey.

The ASI team also got its hands on several silver and copper coins that establishes the fact that these coins belonged to tenth century. In the summary of the report, the ASI has mentioned that the present structure was built after destroying the temple., as per our sources. The presence of more 39 deities have also been discovered from the Bhojshala premises, which has, in turn, strengthened the Hindu's side demand for a temple.

The HC had, on March 11, ordered the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the complex, in the state's Dhar district, on an application by 'Hindu Front for Justice' and had given the premier agency six weeks for the task. The ASI, which started the survey on March 22, approached the HC two times to seek extension to complete it.

Earlier, on April 29, the HC had given ASI eight more weeks to complete the survey and had asked it to submit the report by July 2. However, the agency had moved a plea seeking a four week-extension. The HC, on July 4, ordered the ASI to present by July 15 the complete report of the nearly three-month-long survey on the premises of the disputed 11th-century monument, the subject of a wrangle between Hindus and Muslims.

The Hindu community considers Bhojshala as a temple of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim side calls it Kamal Maula mosque. The ASI had issued an order on April 7, 2003, concerning access to the monument after a controversy erupted.
 

(With inputs from PTI)