People offer prayers at the Bhojshala complex following the Madhya Pradesh High Court verdict declaring the site a Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Days after the Madhya Pradesh High Court declared Dhar’s Bhojshala complex a Vagdevi temple, two petitioners from the Hindu side have demanded free entry for devotees and claimed that idols of Hanuman and other deities may be buried beneath the premises.
Petitioner Ashish Goyal, associated with the ‘Hindu Front for Justice’, in his application to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday (May 20, 2026), said worshippers should not be charged even the existing Re 1 entry fee.
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The charging of a fee amounted to “disobedience” of the May 15 High Court order recognising the site as a temple, he claimed.
Mr. Goyal also sought the immediate opening of a locked room in the south-eastern part of the complex, claiming it formed part of the original temple structure, and demanded removal of “unauthorised Islamic symbols” from the premises in view of the high court ruling.
Another petitioner, Kuldeep Tiwari, made a similar demand in a separate application sent to the Union Culture Ministry and the ASI.
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Mr. Tiwari claimed there was a strong local belief that idols of Lord Hanuman and other Hindu deities were buried beneath the complex, and sought a scientific excavation of the site to retrieve and reinstall them with religious rituals.
In its May 15 verdict, the High Court declared the religious character of Bhojshala as a Vagdevi temple. It quashed the ASI’s April 7, 2003 order which had allowed Muslims to offer namaz there on Fridays and Hindus to worship only on Tuesdays.
The ASI on May 16 granted the Hindus unrestricted access to the monument for worship and other purposes.
Published – May 21, 2026 10:18 am IST
