The idol, described as an ashtadhatu image of Vagdevi, was found inside the sanctum area with flowers and rice grains placed before it, indicating that worship had been performed before officials detected it. The Archaeological Survey of India, which controls the nationally protected monument, removed the idol after treating the installation as unauthorised. Officials are examining how the image entered the complex despite security arrangements at a site where access and rituals have been tightly regulated for decades.
The episode has sharpened tensions because it followed a May 15 judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court recognising the Bhojshala complex as a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi, also identified with Saraswati. The court set aside the 2003 order of the Archaeological Survey of India that had allowed Hindus to worship on Tuesdays and Muslims to offer Friday prayers at the site. The ruling altered the administrative framework that had governed the disputed complex for more than two decades and intensified demands by Hindu groups for fuller ritual control.
Bhojshala, located in Dhar district, has been claimed by Hindu groups as an 11th-century centre of Sanskrit learning associated with King Bhoj of the Paramara dynasty and a temple of Vagdevi. Muslim groups have maintained that the site also has the character of the Kamal Maula mosque, where Friday prayers had been permitted under official arrangements. The monument’s layered history, reused architectural fragments and medieval additions have made it one of central India’s most sensitive heritage disputes.
The High Court verdict relied heavily on archaeological and historical material placed before it, including the court-directed scientific survey conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India. The court held that the religious character of the complex was that of a temple and stated that the 1991 Places of Worship law did not apply to protected monuments governed by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains framework. It also affirmed that the site remained under the statutory control of the Archaeological Survey of India.
The unauthorised placing of the idol has therefore created a difficult administrative test. Hindu organisations have argued that the presence of Vagdevi at the site is central to the court-recognised character of Bhojshala and have renewed demands for a permanent idol to be installed through official channels. The Archaeological Survey of India’s action, however, reflects the legal position that no new object can be placed inside a protected monument without approval, even when worship rights are recognised.
The controversy has also revived the debate over the original Vagdevi image associated by campaigners with Dhar. Several Hindu groups have long demanded the return of an idol kept at the British Museum in London, which they claim belongs to Bhojshala. The High Court had asked the Union government and the Archaeological Survey of India to consider steps relating to repatriation. Separately, disclosures under the Right to Information Act have suggested that the Archaeological Survey of India does not have records showing active official efforts to secure the idol’s return, adding another layer to the dispute.
Security agencies in Dhar are now under pressure to explain the breach. The site is not an ordinary place of worship but a protected monument where entry, worship and preservation protocols are subject to official supervision. The discovery that an idol could be placed, decorated and worshipped before being noticed has raised concerns over surveillance, visitor screening and coordination between local administration and monument authorities.
