Now, row over dargah in Jogulamba temple complex in Telangana

Amid the controversies surrounding the Gyanvapi, Mathura mosques, the Telangana BJP leaders are objecting to the presence of a dargah inside the famous Jogulamba temple complex at Alampur in south Telangana.

Firebrand Telangana BJP leader Raja Singh Lodh is demanding the K Chandrasekhar Rao government to remove the non-Hindu religious structure in the ancient temple premises, “or else the BJP will do the needful after forming government in Telangana in 2023.”

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The temple dedicated to Goddess Jogulamba is considered as the fifth among the 18 (ashtadasa) shakti peethas in the country. The centuries old Hindu pilgrimage centre, built in Chalukyan style of architecture, sits near the confluence of Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers along the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana border.

The temple is visited in large numbers by devotees from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.

In a letter to the Archaeological Survey of India, Singh, the BJP floor leader in Telangana Assembly, stated that a few years back, “a dargah appeared suddenly in the temple premises and a kaman was constructed overnight.”

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“But no action was initiated by the government departments against the illegal encroachment into Hindu religious temples,” the Goshamahal MLA said in his letter dated May 17, 2022.

“In view of this, the benevolent authority is requested to look into the matter and remove the non-Hindu religious constructions in the ancient Jogulamba Shakti peetham premises at the earliest as a token of respect for Hindus in secular India, as the temple is under the ASI control,” Singh said in the missive to the Superintending Archaeologist of ASI Hyderabad circle.

Singh also posted a video of the structures at the temple complex on Twitter. The footage was shared by several others on social media platforms like facebook.

The Jogulamba-Bala Brahmeswara temple is located in the same complex where the Navabrahma temples, built in 7-8th centuries, are located. The temple was included for development under the central government's Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD).

After the Telangana formation, the TRS government had split the Mahboobnagar district and named the area abutting Karnataka and Andhra's Kurnool as Jogulamba-Gadwal district.