Prayers at Bhojshala in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar has been peaceful on Basant Panchami, with both Hindus and Muslims being able to offer prayers.
Prayers began peacefully at Bhojshala in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar this morning on 'Basant Panchami' at the site where both Hindus and Muslims offered prayers.
District Collector S Shukla said that "350 devotees have offered prayers at the temple inside Bhojshala. More devotees are coming inside for puja," he added.
The monument has been virtually turned into a fortress with a huge police deployment to avoid any untoward incident.
There was tension in the town for past few days ahead of the 'Basant Panchami' after Bhoj Utsav Samiti (BUS) leader Vijay Singh Rathore demanded that Hindus be allowed "dawn-to-dusk" access to perform puja at Bhojshala, despite an order issued by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) last month.
On the other hand, the Muslims' Shahar (city) Qazi also said yesterday that his community should be allowed to offer Friday namaz at Bhojshala.
The ASI order stated that on Basant Panchami, Hindus will perform puja at Bhojshala from sunrise to 12 noon and from 3:30 PM to sunset, while Muslims will offer namaz between 1 PM and 3 PM.
Hindus consider Bhojshala as the temple of Goddess Wagdevi (Saraswati), whereas Muslims treat it as Kamal Moula mosque.
In the normal course, Hindus are allowed to perform puja on Tuesdays, while Muslims offer namaz on Fridays. The structure is open to all on rest of the days.
But the row erupted with Basant Panchami and Friday namaz overlapping today, as both sides refused to give up their access to the 11th century monument.
A similar situation had happened at the Bhojshala in 2003, 2006 and 2013, when Basant Panchami and Friday namaz coincided.