Row after ASI accused of removing Vagdevi idol from Bhojshala complex

A row has erupted over the placement of an ashtadhatu idol of goddess Vagdevi inside the highly sensitive Bhojshala complex and its alleged removal by the Archaeological Survey of India, three weeks after the Madhya Pradesh High Court declared the monument a temple.

A petitioner from the Hindu side has blamed the ASI for the removal of the idol, calling it a contempt of court, while a representative from the Muslim side has objected to its installation. The High Court, accepting two public interest petitions from the Hindu side, declared Bhojshala a temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati) on May 15.

The HC stated that the ASI shall have ‘full supervisory control’ over the preservation, conservation, and regulation of religious access.

Kuldeep Tiwari, one of the petitioners in the Bhojshala case, stated on Monday that some devotees installed an ashtadhatu (eight-metal) idol in the complex last Saturday (June 6), and performed rituals with chanting of mantras.

He claimed that devotees worshipped the idol throughout Saturday, but in the evening, the ASI allegedly removed it from the Bhojshala complex.

“The removal of the ashtadhatu idol of Goddess Vagdevi by the ASI is highly objectionable. This action is a contempt of court order and an insult to the faith of the devotees,” he said in a statement.

Tiwari said that a replica of the Vagdevi idol remains in its place in the Bhojshala complex. He said since the original idol is kept in the British Museum in London, an ashtadhatu idol should be installed in the temple as an alternative until the original one is returned to India.

He stressed that he is unaware of which devotees had installed the ashtadhatu idol in the complex.

The ASI’s response to the allegation of the idol removal is not available.

When asked about the controversy, Dhar area ASI officer Prashant Patankar said he was not authorised to give statements to the media.

Dhar Superintendent of Police Sachin Sharma stated that the May 15 order of the high court and regulations regarding the Bhojshala are being strictly complied with.

The two petitioners of the Hindu side, who won the case before the Indore bench of the High Court, are insisting on the return of the original idol of Goddess Vagdevi to India and its reinstallation in the Bhojshala.

The high court had noted that the Government of India may consider bringing back the statue of goddess Saraswati from the London Museum and re-establishing the same within the complex.

Zulfikar Pathan, head of the Kamal Maula Masjid Namaz Intezamia Committee in Dhar, said, “In view of this observation by the High Court, no other statue can legally be placed in the Bhojshala complex.”

Pathan demanded that the Islamic inscriptions on the walls of the Bhojshala complex be “fully protected.”  The HC bench has determined the religious

nature of the Bhojshala complex as a Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati) temple.

The court also overturned the ASI’s April 7, 2003, order allowing Muslims to offer prayers at the complex every Friday. This order allowed Hindus to worship at the monument only on Tuesdays.

Following the High Court’s decision to declare Bhojshala a temple, Hindus continue to worship at the complex.