Thousands throng Bhojshala to offer prayers on 1st Tuesday since verdict

Dhar: The first rays of Tuesday morning sun had barely reached Dhar when the sound of conches cut through the air. Devotees were already streaming in, many draped in saffron and yellow, filling corridors that have stood in quiet, contested silence for decades. The Bhojshala — its intricately carved pillars still bearing the scars of time and deliberate mutilation — was alive again with prayer.

It was the first Tuesday after the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court declared Bhojshala a temple and centre of learning, clearing the way for Hindus to offer worship by quashing a 2003 Archaeological Survey of India order. The court also observed the continuity of Hindu worship at the monument — a site built during the Parmar dynasty around 1034 AD, and one that Muslims have long contested as the Kamal Maula mosque.

The atmosphere inside was a blend of devotion and vindication. Elaborate security arrangements had been made since early morning, with tent walls lining the path to Bhojshala, forming a passageway that blocked the view to the mosque and the shrines dotting the complex.

Behind those walls, inside the ancient corridors, something else was taking shape — rows of children reading out Sanskrit verses in the presence of their gurus, priests seated before a cardboard 3D image of the Vagdevi statue, reciting Sanskrit shlokas. The original idol, taken to the British Museum in London, has been absent from its site for generations. In its place stood this symbolic image — worshipped with the same reverence.

Devotees recited the Hanuman Chalisa and Saraswati Vandana, distributed sweets, and walked the four-sided corridors with visible joy. Tributes were paid to those who lost their lives in what many here describe as a four-decade struggle for worship rights at the site.

“It is a complete victory of the truth,” said Ruchi Shukla, a teacher who had come to offer prayers. “A historic day when we have arrived at Bhojshala to offer prayers,” she added.

Outside, firecrackers burst in the streets. Members of the Bhojshala Mukti Yajna and the Bhojshala Utsav Samiti described the day as “momentous” — and the comparisons to Deepawali came easily. “It seems like Deepawali,” said Vijayrani Solanki, a housewife who had come to the site with her entire family. “The decade-old struggle has borne fruit. Now, we wish to see the Vagdevi idol installed,” she added.

Gopal Sharma, convenor of the Bhojshala Mukti Yajna, announced that the day would be dedicated to remembering the struggle and honouring those who gave their lives for it. “Today, we pay tribute to all those who have sacrificed their lives for the sake of this Bhojshala,” he told reporters. “We offer our tributes to all of them; their portraits will be displayed outside, where floral tributes will be offered,” he added.

For many, the court verdict was not an endpoint but a new beginning. Ashish Goyal, president of the Hindu Front for Justice (HFJ) in Dhar, said his organisation has already written to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Union Ministry of Tourism and Culture, and the state government, urging them to expedite the return of the Vagdevi idol from the British Museum.

He also called for the reinstatement of 94 idols — including those of Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahisasur Mardini, and other deities — found during the ASI survey of the Bhojshala complex in 2024. Idols of Kubera, Ardhanarishwar, and other gods and goddesses, currently housed in museums in Mandu and Dhar fort, should also be respectfully reinstalled at the site, he urged.