Bhojshala case, A person from the Jain community has filed a writ petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking the right of worship for the people of his community in the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Masjid complex in Dhar. The petition claims that this disputed complex once used to be a Jain Gurukul and a Jain temple where the idol of Goddess Ambika was installed. This writ petition filed by Delhi social activist Salekchand Jain may be heard in the High Court this week. Jain’s advocate Manohar Singh Chauhan gave this information on Monday.
Survey report of Bhojshala premises is ready
This petition has been filed at a time when the Archaeological Survey of India is preparing to present the report of the survey of the Bhojshala complex in the court on the orders of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Jain’s petition claims that there used to be a Jain Gurukul and Jain temple in the Bhojshala complex where Jain monks and scholars used to teach students and the work of translation of texts in Sanskrit, Prakrit and other languages was also done in this complex, hence the people of the Jain community should be given the right to worship at this place.
The idol of Vagdevi was described as the goddess Ambika of the Jain community
It has also been claimed in the petition that the statue in the Bhojshala complex, which the Hindu community is calling the statue of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), is actually the statue of the Jain community’s goddess Ambika (Jain Yakshini) which was installed in this complex by King Bhoj of Dhar in 1034 AD. It has been requested in the petition that this statue kept in a museum in London should be brought back to India and re-installed in the Bhojshala complex.
Demand for radiocarbon dating method
The petition states that the Central Government should be directed to use radiocarbon dating method to find out the actual age of the Bhojshala complex and the statues, inscriptions, artifacts etc. found in it. The Hindu community considers Bhojshala to be the temple of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim side calls this 11th century monument as Kamal Maula Mosque. This complex is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
On the petition of an organization named ‘Hindu Front for Justice’, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had ordered the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Masjid complex on March 11. After this, the ASI started the survey of this disputed complex from March 22, which has recently ended. According to the order of the High Court, the ASI has to submit the complete report of the survey of the disputed complex by July 2.