Dhar Bhojshala - Reinventing the past

A few days back, I happened to come across an article by Hartosh Bal on the Dhar Bhojshala. In this article, Hartosh has, without even bothering to visit the structure, 'set the record straight'. He has conclusively 'proved' that the Bhojshala is 'indisputably' a mosque, all his evidence based on over-reading of a mealy-mouthed description of the structure on the ASI website and a deep insight on the working of Hindutva minds on such issues (had they not claimed that the Babri mosque was built over a temple)?

A cursory reading of the even more cursorily penned note would convince the reader that the sole evidence of the structure being a mosque is its name - Bhojshala Kamal Maula mosque and that Muslims offer Namaz on its premises.

Having happened to follow the issue ever since it gained prominence outside the Dhar region, i.e., in 2002-03, when the BJP happened to be in opposition, I believe that the only aspects which are required to be set straight are two: historically, there has been little dispute over the original nature of Bhojshala, which happens to be a Hindu structure later converted to a mosque; and the other, that barring the common Hindu of the Dhar region, no-one is interested in resolution of the issue. Though when in opposition, the BJP had raked up the issue of Hindu right to worship at Bhojshala, once in power, the BJP Government's brutal police crackdown on Hindu worshippers on the two occasions when Vasant Panchami fell on a Friday (the day Muslims are allowed to offer Namaaz at the structure), would have made even Mulayam Singh Yadav wonder if he had actually attempted to stop Ayodhya Kar Sevaks in 1990!

Yet, there is nothing like first hand proof. I visited Dhar in September 2015 and took some pictures of the structure. I am not going to refer to the large stone inscriptions at the site for I have little expertise in deciphering the inscriptions. I believe that the structure by itself is a proof enough of its original nature. 

A. The Pillars

The doorway to Bhojshala opens up to a vast open piece of land with a tank like structure in between, and parallel pillared corridors leading to a pillared hall. Structurally, the pillars are primarily of two complimentary designs which are consistent in shape and motifs across the entire edifice. The probability that the mosque was constructed with pillars and other parts of demolished temples can be ruled out as such mosques, e.g. Quwwut-ul-Islam in the Qutab Minar complex (constructed out of parts taken from 27 Hindu and Jain temples) resemble a patchwork, even when synchronised. On the other hand, the Bhojshala offers a uniformity of design as far as its wall, ceilings and pillars, i.e., the defining feature of its structure are concerned.

B: The ceiling

The ceiling of the main hall, just below the small shikhara is intricately carved with floral Hindu motifs, rising in concentric circles, each smaller than before,and ending in carved lotuses, a structural commonality across numerous Hindu temples of North and West India

C: The Patchwork

There is little dispute that the Bhojshala was being used as a mosque for centuries. To convert the Hindu structure to a mosque proper, some alterations were made. These alterations, of black and white marble, attached to granite stones practically scream that they were grafted later.

D: The Yajnavedi

Though probably converted to a vaju tank later, this was very likely to be the platform and altar for homa.  

Interestingly, Bhojshala is the not the only Hindu structure which was converted to a mosque in the medieval period. The Jama Masjid at Mandu has similar marble patchwork in what is otherwise a majestic granite strucure

The bone of contention at Bhojshala today is not really the Namaaz offered on Fridays, it is the demand for uninterrupted worship on days when Vasant Panchami falls on Friday, an event which usually occurs once in 7 years, i.e., a request to Muslims to forego 1 out of 364 Fridays in a cycle. In a normal world, and among people who stood for fairness and peace, this would not have been a contentious issue.

Whether the Bhojshala should be made a place of worship exclusively for Hindus now is a matter very different as compared to denying the very nature of the structure. Over the last 3 decades, we have seen a largely successful attempt at re-writing history. A history in which no temples were demolished by the Muslims, or if they were, they were for all reasons but for religious. Just how can inter-community relations be built on basis of lies and denial? Germany, rather than whitewashing its Nazi past has projected it so that the coming generations do not forget their forefather's culpability in a genocide and hopefully, make them pause before they think on similar lines. Even a Nation as puritanically Islamic as Iran, recognises its pre-Islamic past and the havoc which Arabian armies had wreaked on its civilisation. Just why do we get so queasy and prefer to deny the truth? And that too, for people who have passed on to ages long back?

Just who cleaves the Nation more? We, or the self-proclaimed secularists?