10 Reasons Why Madhya Pradesh High Court Declared Disputed Bhojshala Site As Hindu Temple

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that the disputed Bhojshala site was originally a Temple cum learning centre built back in 1034 AD, and the existing structure was constructed by destroying the temple and using its remains.In its 242-page judgment, deciding the dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities regarding the right to worship at the site, the division bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi said, "the continuity of Hindu worship at the site through regulation over time has never been extinguished."It therefore quashed the permission granted to the Muslim community to offer Namaz at the site and permitted them to approach the State for allotment of an alternative site to construct a Mosque.Here are 10 reasons that weighed with the Court to declare the site as a Temple:1. Evidence of preexisting structure The Court heavily relied on the survey conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India to conclude that the existing structure at Dhar was built on a pre-existing temple structure associated with the Paramara Period. It was observed that the survey was conducted by adopting a scientific method in a fair and impartial manner. The Court proceeded to record brief findings of the report in its Judgment. It noted that the remains of the earlier structure still remain under the existing structure. It observed,"Hundreds of large and small fragments of inscriptions found in and around the existing structure suggest that a number of inscriptions were fixed in the stone structure, giving it a different identity. Fragments of these inscriptions, sculptures, and architectural members suggest that superstructure of this stone structure was later modified and converted into mosque."The Court further noted that the art and architecture of these pillars and pilasters suggested that they were originally part of temples. "For their reuse in the existing structure, figures of deities and humans carved on them were mutilated."Moreover, Sculptures of four-armed deities were carved on windows, pillars and beams used in the existing structure. Images carved on these included Ganesh, Brahma with his consorts, Narasimha, Bhairava, Gods and Goddesses, human and animal figures. However, "as human and animal figures are not permitted in mosque at many places such images have been chiselled out or defaced," the Court said.2. Evidence of the structure dated 10-11th centuryReferring to the ASI report, the Court observed,"From art and architecture of decorated pillars and pilasters it can be said that they were part of earlier temples and were reused while making colonnades of the mosque...The findings clearly state the existing structure is constructed over a pre-existing structure, whose remains still exist in site. This earlier structure was built with brick and later expanded with basalt stone dates back to Paramara period (10th–11th century CE)". The court also referred to the surviving portions of carvings that had escaped destruction, noting that several kirtimukha carvings and deity depictions on windows and pillars remained comparatively well preserved. One of the major findings relied on by the Bench concerned inscriptions fixed in the eastern colonnade, noting that a major inscription contained two Prakrit poems consisting of 109 stanzas each, attributed to Paramara ruler Raja Bhoj. The court noted that the inscriptions reportedly began with invocations such as "Om Sarasvityanamah and Om Namah Shivay". It was also observed that all the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions predated the Arabic and Persian inscriptions, indicating earlier occupation and use of the site by Sanskrit and Prakrit users. Further, the court noted that the coins recovered around the site belonged to the Indo-Sassanian period, demonstrating that the site dated back to the Paramara dynasty. It noted, "Earliest coins found at the site are Indo-Sassanian which can be dated to 10th-11th century, when Paramara kings were ruling in Malwa with their capital at Dhar". 3. Evidence of the site being a Saraswati Temple and a learning centreThe bench noted that the evidence established Bhojshala as both a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati and a Sanskrit learning centre established by Raja Bhoj. It referred to several historical publications, including Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908, which described the structure as Raja Bhoj's School that was later converted into a mosque. Another publication of 1904 by the Royal Asiatic Society referred to the site as Raja Bhoj's Madrassa, which states, "The mosque, contiguous to Kamal-ul-din‟s tomb, is known among the Hindoo population as “Raja Bhoja ka Madrassa”, i.e. Raja Bhoja‟s School". The bench also referred to G Yazdani's Mandu: The City of Joy of 1929, which described the structure as a mosque constructed from the remains of an earlier Hindu Temple. The bench also referred to the Archaeological Review of 1972-73, which recorded excavations around Bhojshala yielding temple...

10 Reasons Why Madhya Pradesh High Court Declared Disputed Bhojshala Site As Hindu Temple

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10 Reasons Why Madhya Pradesh High Court Declared Disputed Bhojshala Site As Hindu Temple

Jayanti Pahwa

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