Qutub Minar Row: Hearing to Restore 27 Temples in Minar Premises on May 24

Hearing a petition for the restoration of 27 Hindu and Jain temples in the Qutub Minar premises, the Saket Court, on May 17, adjourned the hearing to May 24.

This development comes in the midst of growing clamour across the nation to rebuild temples that were demolished during the Mughal era. Many such cases including the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura are being heard in the higher courts.

The petition claimed that the Quwwat-Ul-Islam mosque inside the Qutub Minar complex originally housed 27 temples. The petitioners, belonging to Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishabh Dev and Hindu deity Lord Vishnu (through their next of friends), asked for the restoration of 27 temples.

“The suit was filed to preserve and protect the religious and cultural heritage of India and to exercise the right to religion as guaranteed by Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India by restoring 27 Hindu and Jain temples with respective deities which were dismantled, desecrated and damaged under the command and orders of Qutub-Din-Aibak, a commander of invader Mohammad Ghori, who established slave dynasty and raised some construction at the same very place of temples naming it as, Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque,” said the suit, as reported by news agency ANI.

A week back, 44 members of two right-wing groups were detained for reciting Hanuman Chalisa near Qutub Minar alleging that the 13th century tower was raised upon a Vishnu temple and called for the renaming of the complex to “Vishnu Stambh” while asking access for Hindus to pray inside the complex.

One of the leaders of the protests even claimed that the minaret was raised by Qutub-uddin-Aibak in 1100 AD by demolishing Sai, Hindu and Jain temples and there were several Hindu idols inside the complex.