Queen Ahilyabai’s idol not damaged, says Holkar trust, starts puja at new location

Varanasi: Amid a political slugfest over the alleged desecration of Ahilyabai Holkar's idol during renovation work at Manikarnika Ghat, the Khasgi Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Charities Trust started worshipping the idol of the 18th-century queen relocated at the Gurudham temple from Saturday.The statue was carved into the wall of Manikarnika Ghat's madhi (platform) that was demolished for the renovation work.Meanwhile, scholars, the Dom Raja family, and people cremating loved ones at Manikarnika Ghat supported the rejuvenation work at Kashi's maha shamshan for its early completion.Holkar Trust's assistant manager Vishal Khanna told TOI, "We initiated the worship of the stone plate featuring Queen Ahilyabai's idol. The demolition of madhi (circular platform) led to three stone pieces with Holkar's idols breaking, but the carved idols themselves remain intact. These idols are kept at Gurudham temple under the state archaeology department's custody.""Though the demand for worship was fulfilled, we are waiting to know the administration's decision on bringing such idols to Tarkeshwar temple for worship," he said.A trust delegation led by President Yaswantrao Holkar handed over these demands to divisional commissioner S Rajalingam and the municipal commissioner, said Khanna.In his letter, the trust chief mentioned the demolition of the historic Manikarnika Ghat – first restored by Ahilyabai Holkar in 1791 – along with hundreds of sites she built or restored nationwide. It was one of the few sites where she had placed her own effigies. He expressed displeasure over its demolition on Jan 10 without any prior notice or warning, which was a complete disregard for the site's history.The trust and the Holkar Royal Family of Indore strongly condemned this act, although the letter said that they wholeheartedly support well-planned and sensitive development of facilities for people. Mentioning that they commend Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's vision for such development, the trust demanded an investigation to know the reasons for negligence and hold the relevant people accountable, hand over the idols to the trust, and restore them to their rightful place in the redeveloped area.The trust clarified that it was not against the redevelopment of the area to improve facilities for people.Veteran art historian Prof Maruti Nandan Tiwari said that the breaking of madhi, which contained idols of legends like Queen Ahilyabai, was unfortunate. "However, creating a hurdle to an important project like rejuvenating the cremation ghat of Kashi should be avoided," added Tiwari.Diwakar Shukla, who reached Manikarnika Ghat with the mortal remains of his relative from Palamu in Jharkhand, said, "Arrangements at the cremation grounds of Kashi should exist as per its stature in Sanatan. Currently, Kashi lacks it, as people coming from different parts of the country to fulfil the wish of their loved ones and relatives of attaining Moksha are struggling hard due to overcrowding."Dom Raja family's Vishwanath Chaudhary said that to address the problems of Manikarnika Ghat, the govt introduced this project, which will bring relief to everyone. "Destruction of old structures, including our own house, for renovation upsets, but it can't be denied that no redevelopment is possible without removing old structures."Tirth Purohits (priests) of Manikarnika Ghat, Rishi Dave and Vinod Dave, said, "No new development can be ensured by demolishing previously built structures. But, the lingering of this project for almost three years added to the problems. Carelessness of workers that led to the demolition of madhi fuelled the anger further. If debris is not cleared in time, there will be problems in managing crowds during the Panchkoshi and Antargirihi yatras."