Days after Sambhal temple's reopening, three damaged idols found inside well

Sambhal (UP): Three damaged idols were found inside the well of the Bhasma Shankar temple in Sambhal that was reopened last week after being shut for 46 years, officials said on Monday.

The Shri Kartik Mahadev temple (Bhasma Shankar temple) was reopened on December 13 after the authorities said they stumbled upon the covered structure during an anti-encroachment drive. The temple housed an idol of Lord Hanuman and a Shivling. It had remained locked since 1978. The temple also has a well nearby which the authorities had planned to reopen.

District Magistrate of Sambhal, Rajender Pensiya, told reporters that the ancient temple and the well were being excavated.

"Around 10 to 12 feet of digging has been done. During this, today, first an idol of Parvati was found with its head broken. Then Ganesh and Lakshmi idols were found," he said.

Asked if the idols were damaged and then put inside, Pensiya said, "All this is a matter of investigation." "Right now, these idols have come out. How did they get inside? What happened and what did not happen, will be known after a detailed investigation," he added.

To a question on encroachments around the temple, the district magistrate said some people removed encroachments on their own while others were requested to remove them.

Further due process will be followed and then these will be removed through the nagar palika, he said.

Asked if the temple would also be beautified, Pensiya said, "First the temple's 'praacheentaa' will be ensured." Sanjeev Sharma, who was present at the site during the excavation, said a damaged Lakshmi idol was found in the well along with a Parvati idol.

Satendra Kumar Singh said the Parvati idol was found about 15-20 feet inside the well.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate Vandana Mishra told PTI that information was received through the local SHO that idols had been found.

The temple is situated in the Khaggu Sarai area, just over a kilometre from the Shahi Jama Masjid where violence took place on November 24 during a protest over a court-ordered survey of the mosque. Four people were killed and several, including police personnel, were injured in the violence.

The district administration has written to the Archaeological Survey of India for carbon dating of the temple, including the well.

Carbon dating is a method used to determine the age of archaeological artefacts from ancient sites.

Worshippers have started visiting the temple and it is being guarded round the clock.

Meanwhile, BJP's Sambhal district unit chief Chaudhary Harendra Singh, who offered prayers at the temple late on Sunday evening, told reporters that "there is enthusiasm in the Hindu society due to the opening of the temple".

"Today I performed puja and read Hanuman Chalisa (at the temple) for which I would like to thank the administration. Just like the opposition, we also want the truth of Sambhal to come before the whole country. People should know how Hindus migrated from Sambhal, how they were forced to leave," Singh said.

"This temple is a big proof of this. If there was a temple, there must have been Hindus in the locality. Under what circumstances did they migrate? The truth should come out before the people," he added.

Singh also said that everyone has heard about the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits, and now the pain of the Hindus of Sambhal should also come out before the country.

"When we talk to the elderly people, we get to know what the scene must have been like. We had a government that did not talk about the Hindu society at all, and the Hindus migrated due to its bad thinking.

"I would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath under whose leadership the administration worked impartially," Singh said, as he demanded the administration to remove whatever encroachment is there around the temple.