Image: 0102721 Bhojshala and Kamal Maula mosque site, Dhar Madhya Pradesh 008

Description: The Bhojshala Saraswati mandir and Kamal Maula mosque monument is an ASI protected site in the ancient town of Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the controversial and disputed sites claimed by both Muslims and Hindus. ASI permits worship by Hindus on Tuesday and Muslims on Friday for two hours every week. Additionally, the site is open for worship on Vasant Panchami to Saraswati. This historic site has triggered communal clashes and sees heavy police deployment on special festivals. The monument is almost at the exact center of the 10th- to 11th-century circular mandala-style planned city named Dharanagara (now Dhar), built by the Hindu Paramara dynasty. It was an attested capital of Malwa (Malava), and the center of education, monasteries, temples, manuscripts compilation, metallurgy, and trade. Several Hindu and Jain texts as well as inscriptions state that the 11th-century king and polymath Bhoja built an exceptional Saraswati temple here and that he prayed in it. In early 14th century, Malwa was conquered by Delhi Sultanate. Soon thereafter, a hypostyle mosque was constructed here from demolished temple parts. The exact year is unknown, but an Islamic inscription found nearby suggests this mosque was the earliest in Dhar and likely built by about 1310–1320 CE. After the death of Chisti Sufi saint Kamal-al-Din Malawi in 1330 CE, his tomb was placed next to this mosque and it came to be known as Kamal Maula mosque. Muslims continue to pray at this site. The mosque not only has numerous pillars from Hindu and Jain temples, it converted and used many stone panels with Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions from the desecrated temples for its floor, walls and as display. These include Sanskrit grammar rules, esoteric diagrams, mantras, artwork and sacred icons of the Hindus. These were used either as is, or sometimes after some mutilation. The site also has the ruins of a yajna pit. Hindus continue to pray before these spiritual symbols. They call it Bhojshala (the "hall of Bhoja"), sometimes Raja Bhoja school for its educational, geometric drawings and inscriptions found here as if it were a school, and sometimes as Saraswati mandir that once was at the exact center of the famed Hindu planned city and fort. The site does not have the 11th-century Saraswati statue, and it is unknown if it exists anywhere or whether it suffered destruction. In 1924, a damaged Jaina statue for Ambika carried away earlier during the colonial era to London was mistakenly identified to be Saraswati from Bhojshala. Inscriptions discovered in Madhya Pradesh since then corroborate the notable Saraswati temple in Dhar, which Hindus believe was at this site.
Title: 0102721 Bhojshala and Kamal Maula mosque site, Dhar Madhya Pradesh 008
Credit: Own work
Author: Ms Sarah Welch
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication
License: CC0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
Attribution Required?: No