E-Paper
To trace Krishna idols: Application seeks tech survey of Agra mosque
Hindu petitioners in Agra have requested a technical survey by the ASI to locate idols of Lord Krishna allegedly buried in the Chhoti Masjid near Diwan-e-Khas on the Agra Fort premises. The idols were said to have been brought to Agra by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who allegedly demolished the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 25, 2023.
In a case pending in an Agra court, Hindu petitioners on Friday moved an application seeking a technical survey of Chhoti Masjid (Jahanara Begum Masjid) near Diwan-e-Khas on Agra Fort premises by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to trace the idols of Lord Krishna alleged to have been buried there.
It said that idols of Lord Krishna were brought to Agra by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who allegedly demolished the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura in 1670. The Agra Fort – a Unesco world heritage site -- was built in 1565 and is protected by the ASI.
Lawyer Vinod Shukla, counsel for Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Sanrakshit Sewa Trust, gave this information. The Trust had on May 11 filed a petition in the court of the civil judge (senior division), Agra, seeking excavation of the stairs of a mosque that stands on the Agra Fort premises, arguing that there were idols of Lord Krishna buried under the structure that needed to be recovered. The petition is now being heard in the court of the judge (small causes) in Agra.
“The court has fixed August 25, 2023, as the next date of hearing in the case which was filed earlier for mandatory injunction and permanent prohibitory injunction against the defendants for bringing out the ‘Vigrah’ (idols) of Lord Keshav Dev (another name of Lord Krishna) buried in the stairs of Chhoti Masjid now known as Shahi Masjid Idgah located near Diwan-e-Khas on Agra Fort premises” Shukla added.
“We have stated in the application moved on Friday that the court should direct the ASI to investigate/survey by specialised persons who may investigate through the technician or by any technical implements regarding the idols of Keshav Dev buried in stairs of mosque in Agra so that the present case may be disposed of on the basis of the report so filed by the ASI,” Shukla said.
The petition was filed on the initiative of Hindu preacher (Katha Vachak) Devki Nandan Thakur who set up Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Sanrakshit Sewa Trust.
“The intezamia (management) committee of Shahi Masjid, Agra Fort, Chhoti Masjid Diwan-e-Khas Jahanara Begum Masjid, Agra Fort; UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan have been made parties to the suit but are yet to respond in the case,” said Vinod Shukla, the counsel for the petitioner. He said they might implead the ASI as party to the suit and had sent required legal notice in this regard.
“We have not made the ASI party to the suit although the monument is conserved and looked after by ASI but will implead them at a later stage, if required, after obtaining court orders,” said Shukla. On previous dates, the petitioner had moved an application seeking a stay on movement on the steps at Chhoti but the court of the judge (small causes), Agra, had declined to grant stay.
Notably, a similar suit was filed in a Mathura court by a local lawyer Mahendra Pratap Singh. It is among the 16 cases transferred to the Allahabad high court in compliance with the high court order in May 2023.
“I, along with Dhirendra Shastri from Bagheshwar Dham, had made an appeal in Bhopal on April 8, 2023 to Muslim brother(s) to present an example of Bhaichara (brotherhood) in the spirit of Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb (spirit of communal harmony) to allow the digging of stairs at the mosque in Agra where idols of Krishna are buried” Devki Nandan Thakur had said at time of the filing of the case in May.
