Indian court declares mosque complex as Hindu temple

The high court in India’s Madhya Pradesh has declared that a mosque in the state is originally a temple dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Saraswati, and has asked the Muslims to seek the state government’s allocation of a new land for constructing their prayer hall.

The court also quashed parts of 2003 order by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that allowed Muslims to offer Friday prayers at the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar district, reports LiveLaw.

The judgment is believed to have significant implications for disputed religious sites. It is the latest in a spurt of cases launched against Islamic structures since the 2019 Babri Masjid verdict.

A division bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi held that historical literature and records established the Bhojshala complex as a centre of Sanskrit learning associated with Raja Bhoj and recognised the existence of a Saraswati temple at the site.

The judgement of the Indore bench of the high court arose from petitions challenging the ASI's 2003 arrangement that permitted Hindus to pray at the site on Tuesdays and Muslims to offer namaz on Fridays.

The Bhojshala is an 11th-century monument, protected by the ASI. The litigation over Bhojshala included a series of petitions challenging the religious status of the Dhar monument and the rights of different communities to worship there.

Hindu petitioners argued before the court that Bhojshala functioned historically as a Saraswati temple linked to King Bhoj. Muslim parties maintained that historical accounts from the Khilji period did not record the demolition of a Saraswati temple at the site and relied on a 1935 order issued during the erstwhile Dhar state permitting namaz within the complex.

The court said Hindu worship at the complex had continued over time. It directed the Union government and ASI to decide on the administration and management of the Bhojshala temple and Sanskrit learning activities while ASI continues overall control of the protected monument, reports the Times of India.

"We have noted the continuity of the Hindu worship at the site, though regulated overtime...We record finding that historical literature of the place establishes as a centre of Sanskrit learning associated with Raja Bhoj...it indicates the existence of Temple dedicated to Goddess Sarawsati at Dhar...Therefore, the religious character of the area is held to be Bhojshala with temple of Goddess Vagdevi Saraswati," reports LiveLaw.

The bench also reportedly said the Muslim community (the Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society or any other new Waqf body) may apply for suitable land within Dhar district to construct a mosque or prayer site. The state government may consider such an application in accordance with law, the court said.

The High Court had ordered the ASI to survey the Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex on 11 March 2024. The ASI began the survey on 22 March that year, delivering a 2,000-page report that said a structure dating back to the Parmar rulers of Dhar predated the mosque, which was built using repurposed components, reports the Hindu.

The Muslim side disputed the claim, the ASI's survey report was "biased", the newspaper reports.

The court further noted that representations seeking the return of the Saraswati idol from the British Museum may be considered by the Government of India. Jain representatives separately sought prayer rights at Bhojshala, contending that an idol associated with the site and now housed in the British Museum belonged to the Jain Goddess Ambika.

Government authorities argued that the site’s protected status under heritage laws placed its management under the ASI. The court has now ruled that the overall administration of the property will remain with the ASI.

The Wire has previously reported on the Bhojshala dispute as among several ongoing litigations concerning the religious character of historical sites across India. Similar cases involving the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura, the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi have reached various courts in recent years.

After the 2019 Babri Masjid-Ram Janmbhoomi verdict, cases filed against Islamic structures claiming these were built by Mughal emperors by demolishing Hindu temples.