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DHAR: The first rays of the Tuesday morning sun had barely touched Dhar when the sound of conches began rending the air. Devotees were already streaming in, many draped in saffron and yellow, filling corridors that have relatively stood in quiet, contested silence for decades. The Bhojshala complex, with its intricately carved pillars still bearing the scars of time, was alive again with prayers. It was the first Tuesday after the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court declared Bhojshala a temple and centre of learning on May 15, quashing a 2003 ASI order, which allowed Hindus to offer prayers at the site only on Tuesdays and Muslims on Fridays. The court also observed continuity of Hindu worship at the monument, a site built during the Parmar dynasty around 1034 CE and long claimed by Muslims as Kamal Maula mosque. The atmosphere inside was a blend of devotion and vindication. Elaborate security arrangements had been made, 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, rows of children were reading out Sanskrit verses in the presence of their gurus and priests seated before a cardboard 3D image of the Vagdevi statue. 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 corridors with visible joy. Tributes were paid to those who waged a “four-decade struggle” for worship rights. “It is a complete victory of the truth,” said Ruchi Shukla, a teacher who had come to offer prayers. “It’s a historic day.” Outside, firecrackers were burst in the streets. “It feels like Deepawali,” said Vijayrani Solanki, a homemaker who had come to the site with her entire family. “Now, we wish to see the Vagdevi idol installed,” she said. Gopal Sharma, convenor of the Bhojshala Mukti Yajna, said the day would honour those who sacrificed their lives for the cause. Ashish Goyal, president of the Hindu Front for Justice, said the outfit has written to the PMO, MEA and other authorities seeking the idol’s return from the British Museum. Sharma also called for reinstatement of 94 idols, including those of Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahisasur Mardini, found during the 2024 ASI survey of the Bhojshala complex. Idols of Kubera, Ardhanarishwar and other deities housed in museums in Mandu and Dhar fort should also be reinstalled at the site, he added.
