Fresh plea claims existence of Jain temple, gurukul at disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque site

A Division Bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Rajesh Kumar Gupta in Indore on Friday (March 20, 2026) heard the petition filed by a Delhi-based activist Salek Chand Jain, who has claimed the existence of a Jain temple and a gurukul beneath the existing structure. The petitioner also sought rights for the Jain community to worship at the site, similar to the permissions granted to Hindus and Muslims. 

The court has granted two weeks time to the government authorities to file their objections after they raised questions at the maintainability of the plea as a public interest litigation (PIL). The matter has been listed for April 2. 

“Certain objections are raised by learned counsel for respondents regarding the maintainability of the present petition as a PIL. Considering the same, they are granted time to file their short reply/objection before the next date of hearing,” it said. 

The fresh plea comes just days after another Division Bench of the High Court, hearing the dispute between the Hindu and Muslim community representatives, said that it will visit the disputed site before the next hearing. On Thursday, a team of the Indore High Court also visited the site. 

The next hearing of this case is also on April 2 and the court has asked all parties to present their final arguments or objections to the scientific survey report filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The ASI survey, conducted on the directions of the HC, says that the current structure was built on the ruins of ancient temples by using their remaining parts and that several Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions have been found in the structure, as per its nearly 2,200-page report. 

The petition by Mr. Jain, however, claims that the site has also been an educational centre linked to the Jain community. The petition also claims that the idol recovered from the Bhojshala site which the Hindu community claims to be of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), is actually that of the Jain goddess Ambika (a Jain yakshini) installed in the complex by King Bhoj of Dhar in 1034 AD. 

The idol was recovered by the British in 1875 is currently placed in a museum in London.

Dr. Deepak Nahar, a local activist in Dhar corroborated Mr. Jain’s claims regarding the idol but denied that a Jain temple ever existed at the site. 

“The idol is described as that of Jain yakshini Ambika only in the British museum and it is very different from a Saraswati idol. The Vagdevi idol was taken from Dhar to Vadodara centuries ago which was also then taken by the British during colonial period,” he said, speaking to The Hindu. 

While the petitioners of the Hindu Community has expressed its satisfaction with the ASI survey report and claimed the structure to be a Hindu temple, the Muslim side has alleged that the ASI ignored its earlier objections. 

The site is an ASI-protected, 11th Century monument. Under an agreement with the ASI in 2003, Hindus are allowed to perform puja at the complex every Tuesday, while Muslims offer namaz every Friday.