Praful Goradia

Praful Dwarkadas Goradia is a politician from Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh party. He was a Member of the Parliament of India representing Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament from 1998 to 2000 as member of Bharatiya Janata Party. Currently, he is general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh.

Quotes

Hindu Masjids, 2002

Goradia, P. (2002). Hindu masjids.

Part II

• A few masjids have undergone shuddhi, whether in full or part, while others are still unattended and deserve a change. For example, the Gobind Dev mandir at Vrindavan was returned to the Hindus by the British some 130 years ago. While Sultan Ghari at Delhi became a place of worship for all people; when, no one really knows. The saga at Ayodhya is incomplete. While the Nand and Rohini temple palace at Mahaban is believed to have been redeemed in the wake of independence. The edifices at Kannauj and Etawah have not undergone any stage of shuddhi. Since the cities are situated in Uttar Pradesh, the Waterloo of Aryavrat is a part of the series in the area.
  Quwwatul Islam at Delhi and the Adhai Din Ka Jhopra at Ajmer tell the tale of vandalism so eloquently that the viewer is shocked as he enters these masjids. The Krishnajanmabhoomi as well as Kashi Vishwanath are making do with pathetic alternatives for no shuddhi whatsoever has taken place. So also Ataladevi at Jaunpur and Bhojshala at Dhar. At Vidisha, all worship has been suspended while a great deal of the Rudra Mahalaya complex remains buried. The Adina masjid. at Maida has fallen into disuse as a place of worship, whereas Jungle Pir Baba as well as the shrine at Pavagadh are in full use as dargahs. Daulatabad is a case of redemption which took place on the morrow of the police action in 1948 against the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Chapter 2

• The temple today is 55 feet tall. Before its upper part was destroyed on Aurangzeb's orders in anticipation of his visit to Vrindavan in 1670 AD, the mandir was reputed to be twice that height. On its roof, after the destruction, a mehrab or prayer wall was erected and the iconoclastic emperor offered namaaz. Almost two centuries later, F.S. Growse, who belonged to the Bengal Civil Service and was Collector of Mathura District, had the mehrab removed. First, because it was an eyesore, and second, in an endeavour to redeem whatever character was left of the temple. Although the original idol remained at Jaipur, another set of deities was installed by the pujaris or priests. Since then, the temple has a flat roof. Probably, no other desecrated temple had been the subject of so much repair and refurbishment by British rulers. Of supreme importance was the fact of the mandir being restituted to Hindu devotees. It was the greatest act of shuddhi or purification although performed before Swami Dayanand Saraswati reintroduced Vedic procedures.... The Gobind Dev temple at Vrindavan, Mathura, is indeed massive its plinth is 105 feet by 117 feet. It is estimated that the original height was about 110 feet without which it would not have been possible to see the mashaal or torch either from Agra or from Delhi. The temple was built in 1590 AD by Maharaja Mansingh of Jaipur.

Chapter 4

• The first example of shuddhi that the author came across was the tomb of Sultan Ghari which has an interesting history and a delightful present. If only this example of popular spontaneity can be extended to all the temples converted into mosques, would there not be Hindu-Muslim friendship? Just go any afternoon and see for yourself.

Chapter 5

• It is strange that what a writer on Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and the Dargah Sharief at Ajmer has said about the role of Raja Jaichand should have precipitated our visit to Kannauj on August 2, 2001. Equally strange is the fact that our interest in this great capital city of ancient Hindustan was first aroused in 1983 by Dr N .K. Bezbaruah, the versatile grand old man of Assam. He then told us how proud he was to claim direct lineage from one of the chosen Kannauj Brahmins, who were invited specially to introduce Hinduism amongst the Ahoms who had captured power in Assam and had set up their capital city at Sibsagar in the 13th century. Incidentally, the Ahoms belonged to the Shan race whose base was in Thailand. The doctor was bemoaning the paradox of his clan being, on the one hand, so proud of its Hindu ancestry and, on the other, a few sons of the same proud families taking to gun s and terrorism, as it were, against the rest of Hindustan.

• Lane Poole's thesis iterates that in most cases, the destruction perpetrated by the invaders on the Hindu capital cities was conclusive enough to see their permanent end. Kannauj is an outstanding example. So was Ujjain, Gaur, the ancient capital of Bengal, and Ajmer. The ruling elites, Rajputs or others, evidently saw no future in a revival and migrated to other areas. Rajputana offered an useful sanctuary because of the Aravalli hills as well as stretches of desert which made defence against Islamic aggression possible. The arrival of Raja Jaichand's grandson in Marwar is an example.

• The author prefers to quote either British authorities or Muslim chroniclers so that neither authenticity nor objectivity is questioned. However, before moving on to the next monument, he wishes to iterate that additions and alterations of such historic edifices are still taking place. He was quite put off by the white-washing, however fresh or glistening, that had been done on the granite pillars and ceiling of the Jama masjid. The Makhdum Jahaniya fortunately has not suffered this ugly transformation. On the other hand, the Jami masjid at Etawah, only about a hundred kilometres away, which we visited the previous day, was a lso a casualty of whitewashing. What should be the role of the Archaeological Survey is best answered by its directors and, perhaps, the Ministry of Culture.

• The Jami masjid at Etawah is an even more interesting example of sweep under the carpet and conceal. In fact, it is more illustrative. Not only is the masjid white-washed, a number of pillars have been subjected to several coats of aluminium paint. This was applied to a surface made smooth perhaps by the use of plaster. The pillars that had white lime on them, were plain granite.

Chapter 6

• Cunningham called it a masjid which was made up of Hindu materials. It is difficult to agree with Cunningham. The author feels that a Hindu building was converted into a masjid and not made up or rebuilt with Hindu materials. If it had been rebuilt, its Muslim builder would have excluded the inscription of Raja Ajaya as well as all the statuettes on the pillars and walls. The fact that they have been mutilated is a clear indication that the then existing Hindu edifice was quickly converted into a masjid. Apart from the factor of quickness, there must have been the lack of readily available architects and artisans familiar with Islamic architecture. Hence, a great deal of the early Muslim buildings in Hindustan were conversions of Hindu temples. A distinctly Islamic style did not emerge until about the advent of the Lodis in the course of the 15th century.

Chapter 7

• The desecration at Mehrauli was probably the first perpetrated by Muhammad Ghauri. It is situated next to the famous Qutb Minar. The masjid was named after its builder, Qutbuddin Aibak, as Quwwatul Islam, which, translated into English, means the Might of Islam. The name itself is arrogant; for a place Of worship it is even more so.

Chapter 8

• The pillars are some 30 feet high gorgeously carved either with exquisite designs up to a height of about 26 feet, thereafter adorned with delicate figurines . Uncannily, there is not a single figure whose face has not been cut off. Nowhere in Europe does one see such acts of vandalism, except what the original barbarian vandals themselves perpetrated under their king Gaiseric, in the wake of the conquest of Rome in 455AD. Hereafter, the word vandal became synonym with wilful desecration and destruction. The figurines on all the relics on display at the Rajputana Museum as well as those salvaged by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) duly locked in the compound of the Jhopra have been systematically defaced. Amongst the thousands of stone heads, not a single nose or an eye is visible.

• Mind you, the ASI has done nothing to excavate or salvage anything in the complex since independence. With the passing of the Protection of National Monuments Act, 1951 (see Annexure II), all archaeological activities have been frozen. The credit for the excavations goes to Cunningham and Dr. D R Bhandarkar; during the first half of the 20th century by the latter.

• Such then was the vandalism with which the sultanate in Delhi began. As with the Quwwatul Islam masjid next to the Qutb Minar, which was also built by Sultan Aibak, so with Adhai Din Ka Jhopra at Ajmer. Both are indelible specimens of humiliation perpetrated by the victor upon the vanquished.

Chapter 9

• To paraphrase William Shakespeare, not all the scents of Arabia would suffice to wash away the sins of Ghazni and Alamgir at Mathura. And since it is not possible to claim back what was destroyed long ago, the return of the Idgaah and the shuddhi of Krishnajanmabhoomi or the birth place of Krishna, is the only alternative.

Chapter 10

• Sherring appreciates that Muslims yearn to visit Mecca and the Christians desire to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem but the Hindu heart goes out to Benares. If the Hindus refer to any one city as their holiest, it is Benares. Yet, Aurangzeb thought it fit to change its name to Muhammadabad. The temple of Bisheswar, who was regarded as king of all the Hindu gods, was systematically demolished by Aurangzeb during the 17th century. The large collection of deities stored on a platform called the court of Mahadev on the northern side of the temple, were found from the debris. As recorded by Sherring, extensive remains of this ancient temple are still visible and they form a large portion of the western wall of the mosque which was built upon its site by the bigoted oppressor. Evidently, the former temple was much larger than the present one, which is really small for so important a shrine. But there was a reason for it.

• The new temple was built at the behest of Rani Ahilyabai Holkar long after Aurangzeb's desecration . As already explained by Sherring, all the temples built during the Mohammaden rule in Benares had to be diminutive in size. It transpires that the demolition of temples was not inspired merely by a hatred for idolatory or by greed for loot. It was also driven by a desire to humiliate the Hindus. Or, else, how does one explain that the masjid built by Aurangzeb had to be bang next to the Gyan Vapi or the well of knowledge.

Chapter 11

• In 1403 AD Ibrahim Naib Barbak ordered all Hindus to quit the city so that only Muslims could live there.

• Mukhlis and Khalis were in tum governors of Jaunpur under Ibrahim Naib Barbak, who was anxious to build an edifice for the residence of a celebrated saint named Saiyid Usman ofShiraz, who had fled from Delhi during Timur's invasion. In 1908, when the gazetteer was published by Nevill, the descendants of the saint still resided near the mosque. The style of architecture is not very different from that of the Jhanj hari masj id. The roof stands on ten rows of Hindu temple pillars. According to the gazetteer; the mandir had been built by Raja Vijaya Chandra. The river Gomti flows through the city of Jaunpur and there is an impressive bridge across the river. It is a massive stone structure built in the 1560s. The bridge does not rise towards its centre but is flat. It is an original construction. The only feature that mars its originality is a colossal stone lion standing over a small elephant. According to Nevill, it bears the stamp of ancient Hindu workmanship and must have adorned the gateway of some building erected by the Raja ofKannauj. To the west of the northern end of the bridge is the big fort of Jaunpur, built in the time of Ibrahim. But Firoz Shah Tughlaq is credited with having rebuilt the fortress on an old structure inherited from the Hindu era. Evidence of the legacy. is the masjid inside the fort, built on temple pillars of various shapes and designs. Nevill has remarked that some of the pillars are upside down which supports the theory that a number of temples in Jaunpur were destroyed in order to provide stones required to build the fort; the inner face of almost every stone bore carvings, which had decorated Hindu temples.

Chapter 12

• One night during the monsoon of 1991, the rain was so heavy that it washed away the wall that was concealing the frontage of the Bijamandal mosque established by Aurangzeb in 1682. This masjid is a centre of attraction in the district town of Vidisha situated some 40 kms from Bhopal. The broken wall exposed so many Hindu idols that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was left with no choice but to excavate. For three centuries, the idols were buried under the platform, on the northern side, which was used as the hall of prayer conducted specially on days of Eid. Fortunately, the district col lector in 1991 happened to offer protection to the surveyors of ASI, who were otherwise reluctant to expose themselves to the wrath of bigots.

• Rich treasures of sculpture were thus salvaged. Some of the statues were particularly splendid; some were as high as eight feet. The work of the archaeologists, however, did not last long. The ASI soon received instructions to stop further work. The officer of the ASI working on the excavations was transferred, as was the collector. Whether this had anything to do with the new Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh, I 99 1-94, who happened to be the leader of the self-styled secular lobby in Madhya Pradesh, is not known. Since then, the Bijamandal mosque is marking time with a great deal of sculpture hidden under its southern side.

• Aurangzeb, 1658-1707, was the last of the iconoclasts who had a go at this edifice which was then known as the Vijay Mandir from which the successor mosque was known as Bijamandal. He celebrated the visit by renaming Vidisha as Alamgirpur. Despite some excavations between 1971 and 1974 which clearly showed that Bijamandal was originall y a temple, namaz at Eid time continued right until 1965 when Dr. Dwarka Prasad Mishra's government banned worship in, what was, a protected monument. Mishra earned the gratitude of most Vidishans and many others in Madhya Pradesh.

• Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, 1526-37, was the iconoclast of Vidisha, preceding Aurangzeb. He captured the town and about the first thing he did was to desecrate the Vijay Mandir claiming that the conquest ofBhilsa was in the service of Islam. The episode is recorded in Mirat-I -Sikandri. About 200 years earlier, Sultan Alauddin Khilji, 1293, had also enjoyed the 'devout' pleasure of damaging Vijay Mandir. The honour of being the first iconoclast, however, went to Sultan Shamsuddin Iltutmish, 1234, yet another half a century earlier. This episode is described with relish in Tabqat-I-Nasiri.

• Not many temples have had the misfortune of having been desecrated four times. Being a huge structure, built in solid stone, it was able to survive and be restituted as a mandir, three times. The ASI has still to undo the damage perpetrated by Aurangzeb. Excavation work which stopped some nine years ago is yet to be resumed. Admittedly, it is difficult to redeem the pristine glory of Vijay Mandir, whose scale and dimensions are reminiscent of the Konark temple. Nevertheless, it would be a shame, if independent India allows its architectural treasures to remain in a state of desecration and remain buried without an attempt to even redeem them.

• It is all the more unfortunate that the ASI is not being allowed to work on the site despite pressure from local citizens. No other temple turned mosque has witnessed more repeated agitations and satyagraha, than Vijay Mandir. The citizens of Vidisha relate, how year after year, at Eid time they used to offer satyagraha and get arrested. Leaders who agitated even 50 years ago, are still alive to narrate the saga of their efforts.

• Octogenarian Niranjan Verma, a former parliamentarian, remembers how Jawaharlal Nehru found some reason or the other not to meet the delegations led by him. Eventually, he diverted Verma to see Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who could not spare the time to visit Vidisha but deputed Prof Humayun Kabir, the then Education Secretary. The professor was impartial, and immediately conceded in the presence of many a local citizen that it was indeed a temple. However, at this late stage, since the matter would take on political hues, as a bureaucrat, he could do little. Verma and his supporters also approached Dr Kailash Nath Katju when he became Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. The reply they got was that Verma and his men should first persuade the Congressmen of Vidisha into agreeing that the Chief Minister could intervene in Bijamandal. Not long after that, the delegation met the then Chief Minister Mandloi who, incidentally, was sympathetic. His only problem was the fear of Nehru's wrath, which he candidly admitted. As already mentioned, Mishra did bring a halt to namaz being conducted in the edifice. His government donated Rs.40,000 for the construction of a separate idgaah nearby. By then Jawaharlal Nehru had been succeeded by the not antipathic Lal Bahadur Shastri.

• A visit to Vidisha and interaction with the man in the street, would reflect that there is a lingering, although suppressed, but bitter resentment against the government treatment of what they believe to be their dearest treasure, architectural as well as sentimental. The moral of a pilgrimage to Vidisha is that no purpose would be served by hushing up what is naked history.

Chapter 13

• The author's colleagues and he were taken aback when several men of the Central Reserve Police in mufti stopped them from entering the famous Bhojshala. They said that normal entry to this temple school founded by Raja Bhoj was prohibited. On persuasive questioning, one of the policemen told us, that if we were Muslim, we could go in for two hours on any Friday. On the other hand, Hindus were allowed entry only once a year, on Vas ant Panchami or the day of Saraswati, the goddess of learning. If we belonged to any other faith, entry was regretted. No amount of coaxing was sufficient to make the policemen change their minds and allow us even a five minute walk through this historic temple school. We then realised why the compound had been barricaded although the neighbouring masjid named after Kamal Maula was functioning. So was a nearby dargaah and a few shops selling trinkets for rituals. This blatantly discriminatory order was issued by the Digvijay Singh government in 1997 when reports said that there was Hindu-Muslim tension in the area.

• The excuse given was that the Bhojshala was, in any case, a protected monument and barricading it would be the best way to secure its protection. Incidentally, there was no threat from anyone either damaging or demolishing the structure. The discriminatory order of entry 52 times a year to one community, and only once a year to another and none to the rest is based on an extraordinary precedent. The author understands that-in 1935 on the insistence by some local residents of Dhar, which was then a princely state, that the Bhojshala was a Hindu institution -the temple of Goddess Saraswati, on the one hand, and a school, on the other. A photograph of the deity's image which adorned the temple is reproduced in this book. The idol is still on display in the British Museum in London. A part of the Sanskrit inscription which is engraved on a wall of the Bhojshala is also reproduced. It is called Dhar Prasasti of Arjunavarma: Parijatamanjari-natika by Madana.

• On the strength of their conviction, the local residents demanded that the Bhojshala masjid be reconverted into a mandir. Although the Maharaja of Dhar was a Hindu, he was under the influence of the British Resident, who was reported to have advised him to ban entry into the edifice for a while. The Maharaja therefore did as advised, except for allowing Hindus to enter on Vasant Panchami day which is the day of Saraswati puja. Similarly, the Muslims were allowed entry on one day in the year. This precedent was twisted by the Digvijay Singh government into a discriminatory order mentioned earlier. Such are the wages of secularism in our country. · '

• It is best to quote the letter dated May 1, 1952 issued by the Collector of Dhar district of the then Madhya Bharat state which later became a part of Madhya Pradesh: I am directed to request you kindly to inform the Hindu Maha Sabha that the building called Bhoj shala situated at Dhar cannot be given to either the Hindu or the Muslim communities for conversion into a temple or a full-fledged mosque and that this being an archaeological monument the right of entry to it would be conceded to all sections of people for purpose of sight seeing. The Muslim community may also be kindly informed, if necessary, that while the Muslims may continue to say their Friday prayers in the building, no effects must be kept there and nobody should use any part of it for residence. The Dhar State Huzur Durbar office file year 1935-36.

• Bhojshala was a college. The District Gazetteer says that Raja Bhoj school is a mosque, a part of which was converted from a Hindu institution of the 11th century, the Saraswati temple or school. According to the publication, this shrine of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning, is described in the Sanskrit play of Arjunavarma Paramara, 1210-16 as the ornament of the eightyfour squares of Dharanagari. Two slabs were discovered behind the mehrab, one bearing the Prakrit odes of the 11th century (supposed to have been composed by Raja Bhoj himself) and the other the Sanskrit play mentioned above, which praises Arjunavarma. These slabs stand on the north side of the building and are beautiful specimens of the stone cutter's work.

• The Department of Archaeology, Gwalior, 1952, has in a special book dealt on the Cultural Heritage of Madhya Bharat, which, in 1956, amalgamated with the Central Provinces and came to be known as Madhya Pradesh. This book Dhar and Mandu reiterates what Major C.E. Luard,34 the official gazeteer of Dhar, had said in 1912. The carved pillars used all over the building and the delicately carved ceilings of the prayer hall seem to have belonged to the original Bhojshala. On the pavement of the prayer hall are seen numerous slabs of black slate stone the writings on which were also scraped off. From a few slabs recovered from another part of the building and now exhibited there, which contain the texts of the poetic works of Parijatamanjari and Kurmastotra, it appears that the old college was adorned with numerous Sanskrit and Maharashtri Prakrit texts, beautifully engraved on such slabs.

• The other well known monument in Dhar is the Lat masjid named after a square metal pillar whose total height must have been about 41 feet and which is preserved in three pieces of 7, 11 and 23 feet in a small compound next to the mosque. There is no rust anywhere which is an indication that it may be made of metal not different from the iron pillar near Qutb Minar.

• According to Luard,35 the inscriptions on the eastern and northern _gates indicate that the mosque was inaugurated by Amid Shah Daud Ghori, also known as Dilawar Khan, on January 17, 1405. The word "inaugurated" has been intentionally used, instead of Luard's use of "erected" because, evidently, the edifice is a mandir converted into a masjid. Incidentally, Emperor Jehangir called it Jami masjid. The Lat masjid has no minarets nor the traditional hauz in which the devotee can wash his hands and feet before performing namaz. It is a large rectangular pavilion with a great deal of open space in the centre. The four sided pavilion originally stood on some 300 square shaped stone pillars. On conversion by Dilawar Khan, the spaces between the outermost row of pillars were evidently filled with a wall somewhat thinner than the pillars. The entire scene is reminiscent of a temple rather than a mosque. However, such a feeling is not evidence enough of conversion by Dilawar Khan. Any number of pillars, however, on the eastern or the end opposite to where the mehrab and the mimbar are, have at their lower end, defaced carvings of murtis reminiscent of Vishnu. Every effort has been made on most such pillars to erase the statuettes but the outline of the murti is clearly seen. For example , the pillar at the corner of the eastern and the northern end has two statuettes on two faces of the pillar. Similarly, on the next pillar. Then coming to the south-eastern corner, every pillar bears Vishnu's image outline. All this shows that the Lat masjid is a blatant case of conversion from a mandir. It is not like several thousand mosques which were built with stones and statues, taken from demolished mandirs.

• The masjids being near the centre of Dhar, we were able to talk to several local residents who were not only pained at the prohibitory orders for Bhojshala, but also made repeated references to the Lat masjid. The central thrust of their complaint was that most of them could not afford to travel to distant places of pilgrimage. For them, therefore, Bhojshala represents about the only holy place within their reach. If access to that also is denied, were they expected to become Muslims, so that they could go in every Friday? *There is, as it were, a 364 day ban on the entry of Hindus to what is essentially a Hindu heritage and continues to be called Saraswati mandir. Even the Muslims call it Bhojshala masjid and show little interest in worshipping at this converted temple. Why should Bhojshala be inaccessible to the community to which it belongs?

Chapter 14

• On the intervention of the National Minorities Commission in 1983, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been prevented from carrying on any excavations in or around the Rudramahalaya complex where once existed the tallest temple in Gujarat. From its top could be seen glimpses ofPatan, the capital of the ancient kings of Gujarat, some 25 kms away. From the top it is believed were also visible some temple mashaals in Ahmedabad when the capital was shifted there by Ahmed Shah in the 15th century. That is 112 kms away.

• Even today, the ruins demonstrate the finery of the sculpture. Human faces have been mutilated. The tablet displayed at the spot by the ASI says the following: This is the grandest and the most impressive conception of a temple dedicated to Siva associated with Siddharaj who ruled in the 12th century AD though tradition accords its construction to Mularaj during the lOth century AD. The Jami Masjid (mentioned in the blurb) is a modest affair. Its gate is so small that not more than two persons can enter at the same time. On its top are two minarets less than three feet tall. As one crossed the gate, there are four small temple sancti, one on the left and three on the right. It is clear that the sancti had been walled up and converted into a mebraab for the prayer space; Beyond this is the square tank from ancient times which was also used by those who came for ibadat. Beyond, stand a few handsome pillars and carvings that have survived from ancient times.

• The National Minorities Commission has influenced governments, both at Delhi and at Gandhinagar into freezing the excavation work that was begun by the ASI in 1979. The details are available across 38 pages in the commission's Fourth Annual Report dated 1983. Improvement of the environments of the masjid was first conceived in 1959 in response to a complaint repeatedly made by the local Muslims that the ASI had been neglecting the repair and upkeep of the masjid. Yet, after 1983, the commission has not only ensured that the work was frozen but also that all the excavations made should be covered up. And this has been done despite what came out. The author was able to see a stone Nandi bull in a mutilated condition. The rest of the relics were covered up.

• According to the report, Begum Ayesha, MLA, played a leading part in the cover up operation. K.T. Satarawala, the then Adviser to the Governor of Gujarat, also played a yeoman's role by providing a detailed report on the subject. That Muslim appellants were able to push the ASI, is best quoted from the Fourth Annual Report itself.

• A.S. Quereshi, advocate, for the (Muslim) Trustees, issued a notice dated February 6, 1980 to the Superintendent, Archaeological Department, asking the department to build compound walls as per the compromise and to cover up the temple remains. The superintendent explained in person the importance of the discoveries made and the need for revision of the compromise in the interests of preserving the precious cultural heritage of the country.

• As Mr Quereshi wanted to visit the site along with the Superintendent, Archaeological Department, he went to Siddhpur on March 8, 1980. At first, he agreed to the preservation but later he insisted on getting the trenches closed in his presence that day. The superintendent ordered closure of the trenches and construction of the compound wall and both the works were started in his presence. Should the work of the ASI be allowed to be halted by the intervention of the Minorities Commission? Should a commission work at the behest of narrow local vested interests? Or, should not the government rein in the commission from undertaking such obstructionist activity? If there is legitimacy in such activity, would it not be logical that the ASI be wound up? Which, of course, would imply that we have lost interest in the search for our civilisational heritage.

Chapter 15

• The Adina or Friday mosque is situated on National Highway No. 34 between Raiganj in West Dinajpur district of West Bengal and Maida. At first glimpse, the dual colour of the edifice walls strikes the visitor. The first ten feet immediately above the ground are grey in colour because of stone tiles. The upper 12 feet comprise of red brick work. Evidently, the current mosque was superimposed on an earlier building.

• Hardly had on e walked a few steps after entering the main gate, when one noticed, on the wall outside, distinct remnants of Hindu deities. They are carved on solid stone which on the outside mingles quite naturally with the tile work of the same stone. One stone slab displays Ganesh by the side of his consort. There are several others including the crests of doorways at the entrance of the northern as well as the eastern face. Inside the mosque, the stone work is equall y convincing that the original building was a temple.

• There are some 20 alcoves in the northern wall. They all give the impression of temp le carvings. If there be any doubt, it is set at rest by what was used as mimbar or the pulpit for the Imam . The face of t he last step is covered with carvings of two female figures which, of course, have been defaced but are still unmistakably human statuettes.

Chapter 18

• What however is of interest to us is the unusual shuddhi that the temple undervent inside the outer wall of the fortress. This historical event took place in 1948 on the morrow of the police action by the Government of India during the takeover of the Nizam' s Hyderabad. There had been a great deal of local pressure for the restitution of the temple. Leaders like Sardar Val1abhbhai Patel as well as Shri Kanhaiyalal Munshi were also aware that it was a Jain mandir which had been forcibly converted into a masjid by Alauddin Khilji.

• However, to avoid giving a religious or a communal colour to the shuddhi or reconversion, the idol installed in the sanctum sanctorum was that of Bharat Mata. It is therefore now known as the Bharat Mata temple, although for 700 years it had been called Jami masjid. The mandir was built on a plan not dissimilar to Palitana in Gujarat and Dilwara at Mount Abu, Rajasthan. There is a large courtyard. There were the usual traditional 52 pillars as in Jain places of worship. At the western end was a hall, typical of an ancient temple. A flat roof was held aloft by 152 stone pillars. The author and his colleagues during their visit in 200-1 were told on authority that the pillars were constructed according to the Himar Panti style of architecture, one of whose special characteristics was the interlocking of stones without the use of any cementing material.

Chapter 19

• Lest the author sound antagonistic towards either Bangladesh or Pakistan, let him begin with the destruction that has taken place in the Kashmir Valley since 1990. He is quoting from a book called Kashmir: Wail of a Valley by R .N. Kaul, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi.46 Amongst the prominent temples to be set on fire was the Dashnami Akhara in Srinagar. It is the mandir from where the annual summer pilgrimage to Amamath begins. Ganpatyar temple has been attacked again and again including by bombs. It has a lso been subjected to two separate rocket attacks. The Shiva temple at Jawahir Nagar, a well known locality of Srinagar, was yet another object of attack. At Anantnag, the targets of violence were the Raghunath as well as the Gautam Nag mandirs and the triple temple ofLok Bhawan. The Wanpoh mandir which had been almost completely demolished in 1986, was again desecrated on 21st February, 19~2. The Mattan mandir was instantly converted into a Muslim shrine by namaz, being said. In all, some 70 Hindu places of worship have been desecrated.