<< Our Photo Pages >> Bijamandal Temple at Vidisha - Ancient Temple in India
Submitted by motist on Sunday, 12 June 2016 Page Views: 4828
Multi-periodSite Name: Bijamandal Temple at VidishaCountry: India Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Vidisha
Latitude: 23.528543N Longitude: 77.801150E
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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During Mughal emperor Aurangzeb period 1658-1707AD the temple was demolished. Using the material from the demolished temple, a mosque of smaller size was built around 1700 AD. Later Vidisha was under the Gwalior maharaja's and the British.
Bija Mandal- planned death of history
Bijamandal Temple at Vidisha is one of massive dimensions comparable with Konarak in Orissa. It was desecrated again and again since the days of Sultan Shamsuddeen Iltutmish who first indulged in his iconoclasm at this site. Then followed Allaudin Kilji. His record was bettered by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Finally came Aurangazeb Alamgir a renowned champion of human compassion and deathless humanity.
During one night in the monsoon of 1991, there was heavy rain at a small town called Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. The rain was so heavy that it washed away the wall that was concealing the frontage of the Bijamandal Mosque established by Aurangazeb in 1682. This Masjid is a centre of attraction for the Muslims. The Muslim clerics called it Alamgir Masjid. But for the common people of the area it was known as Bijamandal Mosque.
The broken and capsized wall following heavy rains in 1991, completely exposed and brought to public light so many Hindu idols that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was left with no pseudo-secular choice for further concealment and consignment into oblivion.
The fact to be noted is that for more than 300 years, these Hindu idols were buried under the platform on the northern side, which was used as the Hall of Prayer conducted especially on days of Eid. The District Collector having control over this town in 1991, came forward to offer protection to the Surveyors of the ASI, who were always exposed to the ever present risk of violent wrath of bigots.
Exquisitely beautiful treasures of sculpture were retrieved by the ASI. Many of the statues were particularly splendid, with some of them being as high as eight feet. But the patent fact which must be noted by all enlightened citizens in India today is that the ASI within a month received instructions to stop further work. The officer of the ASI working on the excavations as well as the Collector were transferred. There was widespread public belief in all the villages around Vidisha that this was done at the behest of the then Human Resource Development Minister at the Centre Arjun Singh, a deathless champion of 'secularism'.
Sir Alexander Cunningham who was the first Director of the Archaeological Survey of India established by Lord Canning, the Viceroy, in 1862 visited this site in 1874 and 1876. This is what he wrote in Volume X of the ASI Report: Inside the town there is a stone Masjid called Bijay Mandir, or the temple of Bijay. This Hindu name is said to have been derived from the original temple Bijay Rani. The temple was thrown down by the order of Aurangazeb and the present Masjid erected in its place; but the Hindus still frequent it at the time of the annual fair. By the Musalmans it is called 'The Alamgiri Masjid', while Bhilsa (earlier name of Vidisha) itself is called Alamgirpur. The building is 781/2 feet long by 261/2 feet broad and the roof is supported on four rows of plain square pillars with 13 openings on front.
The ASI is still to undo the damage perpetrated finally by Aurangazeb in 1682. Excavation work by ASI which was stopped by Government of India in 1993-94 is yet to be resumed. It is no doubt difficult to redeem the pristine glory of Bijay Mandir, whose scale and dimensions are reminiscent of the Konarak Temple, but it would be a shame if independent India allows its architectural treasures remain in a state of desecration and buried without an attempt even to redeem them. It is all the more unfortunate that the ASI is not being allowed to work on the site despite pressure from local citizens. However it is opened for tourists now.
Read more from Deepesh Bhavsar on Facebook: History of Vidisha
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.