Maihar/Madhya Pradesh: The administration of Madhya Pradesh has issued an order to remove all Muslim employees from the management committee of a temple here, two Muslim employees are going to lose their jobs.
The two employees have been working in the shrine, the Maa Sharda temple, since 1988, NDTV reported.
Maihar is known for the Maa Sharda temple and Maihar gharana, founded by sarod legend Baba Alauddin Khan, NDTV writes.
On January 17, the state government issued an order directing the removal of Muslim employees from working in the temple’s management committee. The Deputy secretary of the state Ministry of Religious Trusts and Endowments wrote the temple committee to comply with the directive and submit a report.
However, the move is made when the state government rules say no employee can be removed on religious grounds.
Further, an order has been issued to ban meat and liquor sales in the town. It is learnt that both the orders were made after the rightwing Hindutva organisations Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal met Minister for Culture, Religious Trust and Endowment Usha Singh Thakur in January.
District collector Anurag Verma told reporters that action would be taken according to rules. He heads the temple management committee.
The town of Maihar has a syncretic history.
Maihar homed legendary musician and founder of Maihar gharana Baba Alauddin Khan. The Maihar gharana produced many elite Indian classical musicians such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, and his daughter Annapurna Devi and son Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. All were Alauddin Khan’s disciples.
Khan was one of the musicians of Maharaja of Maihar’s court, and he had composed several classical ragas. It is said that he used to climb the 1,063 stairs leading to the Maa Sharda temple daily to play for the goddess. Pandit Ravi Shankar had said in multiple interviews about his mentor’s home, which was full of photographs of Goddess Kali, Lord Krishna and Jesus Christ. The house is still there while the world outside is changing, driven by communal charges.
Khan had taken many epidemic-orphaned children into his hands and formed a band. He named it the Maihar band, and the band keeps playing these days.
The Maa Sharda temple is where Khan used to pray and perform for the goddess, where Muslim employees were going to be removed. The renowned temple houses the goddess Shakti Peeth, one of the 51 most prominent shrines of followers of the Shakti tradition.
The legend is that when Lord Shiva performed the Tandava with Sati’s body, her necklace fell on Trikoot hill. This gave rise to the temple, and the town was named Maihar or mother’s necklace. Believed to be built in 502 AD, the temple attracts pilgrims from all across the country.