Dhar (Madhya Pradesh) [India]May 16 (ANI): Devotees entered the Bhoshala complex in Dhar district on Saturday to offer prayers after the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court declared the disputed Bhoshala-Kamal Maula complex a temple and granted the Hindu side the right to worship at the site.
A small number of devotees gathered and offered prayers inside the building today following the court order.
One religious person welcomed the ruling and said that they were now able to perform prayers without restrictions.
“After years, we got the opportunity to have darshan without any hurdle. The court issued a great ruling. I will come here every day to perform prayers,” the devotee told reporters.
On Friday, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued a ruling granting the Hindu side the right to worship and recognizing that the complex belongs to Raja Bhoj.
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Highlighting the legal framework of the decision, ASI’s lawyer Aviral Vikas Khare said: “The key points of this order are that the Bhojshala site has been designated as a ‘protected monument’, a status it has held since 1904. This means that the entire management and organization of this monument shall remain exclusively with ASI (Archaeological Survey of India); in essence, the supervision of this site will rest solely with ASI.”
The court ruled that the disputed site is essentially a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi, dating back to the Bhoj Parmar dynasty, and set aside the earlier ASI order.
“The court determined the nature of the site, holding that it was historically the site of a temple dedicated to Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati) and that it was constructed during the Bhoj/Parmar dynasty. Based on this determination of its character, the Hindu community was given the right to offer worship at the site. In addition, the earlier order of the ASI – which granted the Muslim community permission to perform ‘namaz’ on Fridays for a period – was modified,” he said. The complex itself will remain under the auspices of the CIA.”
Addressing the media after the Supreme Court MP’s order, Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, termed the ruling “historic”, noting that the court had partly set aside the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) order dated April 7, 2003.
“The Indore High Court delivered a landmark judgement, partially quashing the ISI order dated April 7, 2003. Moreover, the court granted the Hindu side the right to worship and recognized the Bhoshala complex as subservient to Raja Bhoj,” Jain said.
The lawyer also revealed that the court addressed the request to return the idol, which is currently in a museum in London.
Meanwhile, two cautionary petitions were filed in the Supreme Court hours after the Madhya Pradesh High Court declared the disputed complex a temple, anticipating that parties on the Muslim side will be able to challenge the ruling in the apex court.
Pending the ruling, state authorities made a joint arrangement for religious practices while the site remained under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which also surveyed the complex. (that I)
