The National Monuments Authority (NMA) has asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to remove two idols of the Hindu deity Ganesha from the premises of Qutub Minar.
According to a front page news report in the English newspaper The Indian Express, the NMA president said that “the place where these statues are installed is degrading…” and they should be sent to the National Museum.
In a letter sent to the ASI last month, the NMA had said that the idols should be given a “respectable” place in the National Museum, where there is a provision to display such antiquities. Both NMA and ASI come under the Ministry of Culture. According to the newspaper, ASI officials have not commented on the matter but NMA chief Tarun Vijay has confirmed the letter.
Tarun Vijay is also a BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP. He said, “I have been to that place many times and felt that the place of idols is degrading. She comes at the feet of the people who come to the mosque. After independence, we have removed the statues of British kings and queens from India Gate and changed the names of the streets to remove the traces of colonialism. Now we must work to reverse the cultural carnage that Hindus suffered at the hands of the Mughal rulers.”
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which are the two idols
These two idols are called “Upside down Ganesha” and “Ganesha in the cage” and are in the premises of the 12th century monument Qutub Minar. The ‘Ulta Ganesha’ idol is mounted on the south-facing wall of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in the complex. In the second idol, Ganesha imprisoned in an iron cage is near the ground in this mosque.
Vijay said, “These idols were brought after destroying 27 Jain and Hindu temples built by King Anangpal Tomar. The space given to these idols is a sign of contempt for India and needs to be improved.”
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Source: www.dnpindiahindi.in
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