A file image of the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, hearing a batch of petitions related to the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque case said on Monday (March 16, 2026) that it would visit the disputed site in Dhar ahead of the next hearing on April 2.
The current hearings are going on in the wake of a survey report submitted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in July, 2024. The court, in January 2026, allowed all parties to submit objections or suggestions on the report. Members of the Hindu community believe the site to be a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), built by King Bhoj of the Paramara dynasty.
During Monday’s (March 16, 2026) hearing in Indore, Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi said, “Parties may submit their respective objections/opinions/suggestions or recommendations in respect of the report of the Archaeological Survey of India before the next date, if not already filed. The Court proposes to visit the site before the next date of hearing.”
The Bench said that none of the parties in the case would be present during the site visit. The court also asked the parties to present their final arguments during the April 2 hearing. The nearly 2,200-page ASI report said that the present structure was built over the ruins of ancient temples using parts of those buildings.
“It can be said that the existing structure is constructed over a pre-existing structure of basalt, the lower part of which still exists as the base of the present structure,” the report said, adding that a large structure dating back to the reign of the Paramara kings of Dhar between the 10th and 11th century CE predated the mosque.
“Remains of these earliest structures constructed at the site still exist in-situ and are covered under thick and heavy slabs of basalt used during the construction of the platform. Based on the artefacts found during the investigations, these brick structures can be dated to the Paramara period, i.e., 10th-11th century CE,” it said
While petitioners from the Hindu community have expressed satisfaction with the survey report, representatives of the Muslim side alleged that the ASI had ignored their earlier objections.
The site is an ASI-protected 11th-century monument. Under an agreement with the ASI in 2003, Hindus are allowed to perform puja at the complex every Tuesday, while Muslims offer namaz there every Friday.
Published – March 16, 2026 10:37 pm IST
