A row has erupted over the placement of an ashtadhatu idol of goddess Vagdevi inside the highly sensitive Bhojshala complex and its alleged removal by the Archaeological Survey of India, three weeks after the Madhya Pradesh High Court declared the monument a temple.
A petitioner from the Hindu side has blamed the ASI for the removal of the idol, calling it a contempt of court, while a representative from the Muslim side has objected to its installation.
The High Court, accepting two public interest petitions from the Hindu side, declared Bhojshala a temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati) on May 15.
Kuldeep Tiwari, one of the petitioners in the Bhojshala case, stated that some devotees installed an ashtadhatu (eight-metal) idol in the complex last Saturday, and performed rituals with chanting of mantras.
He claimed that devotees worshipped the idol throughout Saturday, but in the evening, the ASI allegedly removed it from the Bhojshala complex.
Tiwari said that a replica of the Vagdevi idol remains in its place in the Bhojshala complex.
