The Kamal Maula Mosque, also called the Bhojshala in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district was constructed using remains from ancient temples, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said in its detailed investigation report.
The findings are based on “scientific investigations, survey and excavation, study and analysis of retrieved finds, study of architectural remains, inscriptions, art and sculptures”, according to the ASI report submitted in 2024 to the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The 2,000-page report, spread across 10 volumes, was prepared after a 98-day scientific survey conducted using the latest techniques.
It was compiled by ASI Additional Director General Alok Tripathi along with a team of experts. The ASI stated that the existing structure was built centuries later “without much attention to symmetry, design, or uniformity”.
ASI Dates Pre-Existing Structure to Paramara Period
According to the report’s brief findings of the survey, retrieved architectural remains, sculptural fragments, large slabs of inscriptions with literary texts, Nagakarnika inscriptions on pillars, etc. suggest that a large structure associated with literary and educational activities existed at the site.
Based on investigations and recovered remains, this pre-existing structure has been dated to the Paramara period.
The report further stated, “Based on scientific investigations, survey and archaeological excavations conducted, study and analysis of retrieved finds, study of architectural remains, sculptures, and inscriptions, art and sculptures, it can be said that existing structure was made from the parts of earlier temples.”
During the survey, ASI found 94 sculptures and sculptural fragments, many of them chiselled or defaced. Sculptures of four-armed deities were carved on windows, pillars and beams used in the existing structure.
The carvings include Ganesh, Brahma with consorts, Narasimha, Bhairava, various gods and goddesses, and human and animal figures. Animal motifs include lion, elephant, horse, dog, monkey, snake, tortoise, swan and bird.
Mythical and composite figures include kirtimukhas, human-faced, lion-faced and composite-faced and vyalas of different forms. The ASI indicated that the earlier structure may have been a temple dedicated to goddess Saraswati.
Bhojshala is regarded by the Hindu community as a temple of Vagdevi or Goddess Saraswati, while the Muslim side considers the 11th century monument as the Kamal Maula Mosque.
HC Seeks Objections, Next Hearing on March 16
On Monday, a division bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi directed that the ASI report be made available to all parties in the Bhojshala–Kamal Maula Mosque dispute.
The bench asked them to file objections, suggestions, opinions and recommendations within two weeks. The next hearing is scheduled for March 16.
The report had earlier been submitted in a sealed envelope. On January 22, the Supreme Court directed the High Court to open it.
Petitioners Welcome Findings, Muslim Side Questions Maintainability
As per TOI, Hindu Front for Justice state vice-president Ashish Goyal, also a petitioner, said, “The survey conducted by ASI, the report that has come out establishes that the entire structure dates back to the Paramara dynasty. It was built by Raja Bhoj, and also by his forefathers. The structure is approximately 950 to 1,000 years old.”
“This report is deeply encouraging for the Hindu community. Very soon, this decisive battle will reach a conclusion. It should not matter whether the report has been opened now or earlier. What should matter is what the religious character of Bhojshala would be. This is the issue on which the Hindu community has been struggling for years,” Goyal added.
Another petitioner, Bhoj Utsav Samiti convenor Ashok Jain, said, “We had filed the petition with the notion that if the place was a mosque, it should be given to them (Muslims) and if it is a temple it should come to us. Now the court has given two weeks for all to reply. We will take appropriate steps after the next hearing.”
“The report establishes that in the later structures that were constructed, materials and remains from the original Bhojshala of that period were used after being dismantled,” Jain said.
Advocate Vinay Joshi, counsel for petitioner organisation Hindu Front for Justice, said the report contains detailed descriptions of coins, symbols associated with Sanatan Dharma, and idols of deities found at the site, adding that the nature of the complex would ultimately be decided by the court’s final verdict.
Three individuals who offer Friday prayers at the Kamal Maula Mosque have filed intervention applications in the High Court.
Their counsel, Ashhar Warsi, argued that the petition involves disputed facts and that a civil court should first examine the matter to determine their veracity. He contended that the case is presently not maintainable before the High Court.
Following the emergence of the dispute, the ASI had issued an order on April 7, 2003, allowing Hindus to worship at the site every Tuesday and Muslims to offer prayers there every Friday.