Bhopal: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Monday submitted a 2,000-page scientific survey report on the disputed Bhojshala temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar district to the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court.
The ASI submitted its report after a 98-day-survey of the disputed 13th century monument. “The ASI on Monday submitted its report on Bhojshala complex to the high court. I cannot tell beyond this”, ASI counsel Himansu Joshi said.
The high court has fixed July 22 as the date of hearing in the case, he added.
Sources disclosed to this newspaper that the ASI report has purportedly suggested that a temple existed at the disputed site in the wake of the recovery of historical artefacts, idols of various Hindu deities and inscriptions.
“Ninety-four historical remains depicting images of Hindu deities were found during survey and excavation in the site”, Hari Shankar Vishnu Jain, pleading the case for Hindus for Justice, claimed.
The statues of Narsinghnath, Vishnu, Krishna, Brahma, Bhairavnath, Mahishasurmardini, Vasuki, Ram, Ganesh, Shiva and Hanuman were found during the excavation in the site by the ASI, sources said.
The significant finding was a “Shikhara” (spire), believed to be of a temple, Gopal Sharma, convenor of the Bhojshala protection committee, said.
Mr Sharma was present all through the survey as a representative of the Hindu side.
The sculptures are made of basalt, marble, sandstone and limestone.
Inscriptions in Sanskrit and Prakrit were found in some pillars and structures of the monument, sources said.
One inscription makes mention of King Naravarman (1094-1133 AD), of the Paramara dynasty.
“Bhojshala was once a famous gurukul (education hub) in the line of Takshila and Nalanda”, Mr Sharma claimed.
Other inscriptions mention Khalji ruler Mahmud Shah.
Animal figurines found in the site include lions, horses, monkeys, snakes, turtles, swans and other avian species, sources said.
A total of 31 coins made of silver, copper, aluminium, and steel, dating back to periods from 10th to 20th century were found, sources said.
The coins belonged to Indo-Sassanian (10th-11th century), Delhi Sultanate (13th-14th century), Malwa Sultanate (15th- 16th century), Mughal (16th-18th century), Dhar State (19th century), and British (19th-20th century).
The Hindus consider the ASI-protected monument as Vagdevi (Saraswati) temple, while Muslims call it Kamal-Maula mosque.
The ASI had permitted Hindus to worship at the temple on every Tuesday and Muslims to offer namaz in the mosque on every Friday around 21 years ago to end the dispute over the ownership of the monument between them.
The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court had over three months ago directed the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the complex to ascertain the nature and character of the structure to establish if a mosque was built by destroying a temple.
