Following a ruling by the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the historic Bhojshala complex in Dhar held its first formal day of daily Hindu worship on Saturday. The court officially recognized the eleventh-century structure as a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi Saraswati, ending a long-standing arrangement. This decision brought immense joy to devotees who gathered in large numbers to celebrate the restoration of their religious rights.
On Saturday morning, traditional rituals and the collective recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa marked the proceedings at the complex. Members of the Bhoj Utsav Samiti, along with numerous devotees, performed puja following Vedic customs. Notable individuals present included patron Vishwas Pandey, Bhojshala Mukti Yagna coordinator Gopal Sharma, Shreesh Dubey, Keshav Sharma, and Ashok Jain, who all paid their respects at the shrine of Goddess Vagdevi and the Yagya Kund.
Ashok Jain, the patron of the Bhoj Utsav Committee, highlighted the long legal and social battle that led to this judgment. He mentioned the annual visits by committee members on Basant Panchami to demand the retrieval of the idol of Goddess Saraswati from London. Jain recalled the escalation in 2003 when the Congress government restricted Hindu community visits to Bhojshala to just one day a year, leading to significant opposition and a tragic incident.
