Bhojshala petitioners demand free entry, say idols may be buried on site

Indore: Days after the Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled that Dhar’s Bhojshala complex is a Vagdevi temple, two Hindu petitioners have asked authorities to stop charging visitors and sought excavation of parts of the site they believe may contain buried idols.

Ashish Goyal of the Hindu Front for Justice wrote to the Archaeological Survey of India on Wednesday, saying worshippers should not be required to pay the existing Re 1 entry fee. He said levying a charge amounted to “disobedience” of the high court’s May 15 order recognising the site’s temple character.

Goyal also asked for the immediate opening of a locked room in the south eastern part of the complex, which he contends was part of the original temple, and demanded removal of what he described as “unauthorised Islamic symbols” from the premises in light of the verdict.

In a separate application to the Union Culture Ministry and the ASI, petitioner Kuldeep Tiwari said there was strong local belief that idols of Lord Hanuman and other deities lay buried beneath the complex. He urged a scientific excavation to recover and reinstall any relics, followed by appropriate religious rites.

The high court’s May 15 judgment declared the religious character of Bhojshala as that of a Vagdevi temple and quashed the ASI’s April 7, 2003 order that had permitted Friday namaz while restricting Hindu worship to Tuesdays. On May 16 the ASI granted Hindus unrestricted access to the monument for worship and related purposes.

(Inputs from PTI)