Praful Goradia Quotes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.