Bhojshala

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This article is about the historic building and Hindu temple. For the mosque in the building, see Kamal Maula Mosque.

Bhojshala
भोजशाला
Pillar arcade looking south. The pillars and other architectural parts date to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, with the different designs showing they are re-cycled from a variety of buildings.
Religion
AffiliationHindu
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusTemple
StatusProtected Monument
Location
LocationDhar, Madhya Pradesh
CountryIndia
Bhojshala is located in Madhya Pradesh
Bhojshala
Location of the temple in Madhya Pradesh
Coordinates22°35′26″N 75°17′42″E / 22.5905°N 75.2950°E / 22.5905; 75.2950
Architecture
TypeTemple architecture
FounderKing Bhoja
Completed
  • 10th–12th century
    (as a Hindu temple)
  • 14th century
    (as a mosque)
Official nameBhoj Shala
Reference no.N-MP-117
[1]

The Bhojshala (IAST: Bhojaśālā, transl. "Hall of Bhoja") is a historic building located in the city of Dhar, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The name is derived from the celebrated king Bhoja of the Paramāra dynasty of central India, a patron of education and the arts, to whom major Sanskrit works on poetics, yoga and architecture are attributed.[2] The architectural parts of the building proper are of different periods but mainly date to the twelfth and thirteenth centuris; the Islamic domed tombs in the wider campus were added between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.[2] The monument was repaired under the Powars of Dhār and more extensively by the Archaeological Survey of India over the last five decades.[3]

Overview

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Bhojshala is a Monument of National Importance protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under the Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. While Hindus and Muslims sometimes claim the site and use it for their prayers, the Republic of India has ultimate juridiction. According to ASI guidelines, Muslims may pray on Friday, while Hindus may pray on Tuesday and on the festival for goddess Sarasvatī, namely Vasant Panchami. The site is open to visitors on other days. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 also supports the administration and regulation of the monument, with day-to-day rules set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules 1959, published in The Gazette of India.

Emergence of current terminology

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The term Bhojśālā (also Bhojshala or Bhoj Shala) became linked to the building in the early twentieth century. The name was based on the poetic inscriptions and incised geometric drawings found at the site by K. K. Lele, the Superintendent of State Education and head of the archaeology department in Dhar State.[4] Eugen Hultzsch, in his publication of the Dhār inscription of Arjunavarman in Epigraphia Indica of 1905-06, referred to a paper sent to him by Lele that described the discovery of the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions at the 'Bhoja Shala' (sic.).[5] The use was established at that point. A copy of Lele's paper was secured by S. K. Dikshit, who printed it in his study and translation of Pārijātamañjarī.[6] Concurrently, Captain E. Barnes reported only that the mosque was "known among the Hindoo (sic.) population as 'Raja Bhoja ka Madrassa', i.e. Raja Bhoja's school."[7] C. E. Luard in his Gazetteer of 1908 also called it Raja Bhoja's school, noting the term was a "misnomer."[8] By the 1930s, however, the term Bhojśālā was well established, with rulings issued by Dhar State referring to it under this rubric.[9] The term Bhojśālā cannot be in found sources from the nineteenth century or before. William Kincaid, in his "Rambles among Ruins in Central India," published in the Indian Antiquary in 1888 made no mention of the Bhojśālā, noting only the "Well of Wisdom" in front of the tomb of Kamāl al-Dīn, so called because of the number of Arabic books that had fallen into the well many years before.[10] Kincaid was a cynical observer but he lived in Malwa for two decades and had significant antiquarian interests. The absence of the term Bhojśālā in his writing indicates was "no living tradition about the Bhojālā in the middle decades of the nineteenth century" among those with whom he interacted."[2]: 136–138  John Malcolm visited Dhar and reports collecting an inscription there.[11] This is the Rāüla vela of Roḍa, now kept in Mumbai. Of the building itself, Malcolm only says that is a "ruined mosque."

King Bhoja

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Main article: Bhoja

King Bhoja, who ruled between circa 1000 and 1055 CE in central India, is considered one of the greatest kings in the Indian tradition.[2] He was a celebrated author and patron of the arts and out of reverence to his memory a large number of Sanskrit works on philosophy, astronomy, grammar medicine, yoga, architecture and other subjects are attributed to him. Of these, a well studied and influential text in the field of poetics is the Śṛṅgara Prakāśa.[2][12] Likely one of Bhoja's actual and original works, the core premise of the text is that Sringara is the fundamental and motivating impulse in the universe.

Along with his literary and art support, Bhoja began constructing a Shiva temple at Bhojpur. If it had been completed to the extent planned, the temple would have been double the size of the temples at the Khajuraho Group of Monuments. The temple was apparently abandoned at the king's death in about 1055. Kirit Mankodi has suggested that it was intended as Bhoja's funerary monument.[13] That building activity was taking place at Bhojpur in Bhoja's time is shown by a dated inscription in the neighbouring Jain temple.[14] The designs and rock-cut line drawings for the construction are discussed in a volume by Adam Hardy.[15]

One of Bhoja's successors was king Arjunavarman (circa 1210-15). He and others in the Hindu and Jain traditions held Bhoja in such high regard that they stated they were Bhoja's reincarnation or were described by others as such.[2][5] Centuries later, Bhoja remained a revered figure as evidenced by Merutuṅga's Prabandhacintāmaṇi, completed in Gujarat in the early fourteenth century,[16] and Ballāla's Bhojaprabandha composed at Varanasi in the 17th century.[17] This tradition was revived in the 20th century, with Hindu scholars describing Bhoja as a champion and exemplar of the glorious Hundu past.[2][18]

Exploration and inscriptions

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Dhār (Madhya Pradesh). One of the serpentine inscriptions noted by K. K. Lele at Kamāl Maula giving the phonology of the Sanskrit language in the form of talismanic snake and sword. This tablet is displayed to the right of minbar in the building.

The archaeological sites at Dhār, especially the inscriptions, attracted the early attention of colonial Indologists, historians and administrators. Malcolm mentioned Dhār in 1822,[11] along with building projects such as the dams planned and completed by King Bhoja.[2]: 136–138  The scholarly study on the inscriptions of Bhojśālā continued in the late nineteenth century with the efforts of Bhau Daji in 1871.[2] A fresh page was turned in 1903 when K. K. Lele, Superintendent of Education in the Princely State of Dhār, reported a number of Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions in the walls and floor of the pillared hall at Kamāl Maula.[2] Study of the inscriptions has been continued by various scholars to the present. The variety and size of the inscribed tablets at the site, among them two serpentine inscriptions giving grammatical rules of the Sanskrit language, show that materials were brought from a wide area and a number of different structures.

Rāüla vela of Roḍa

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Malcolm mentioned that he removed an inscribed panel from the minbar of the Kamāl Maula.[11] This is the inscription now identified as the Rāüla vela of Roḍa, a unique poetic work in the earliest forms of Hindi. This inscription was kept first in The Asiatic Society of Mumbai and was later transferred to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai.[19]

The Kūrmaśataka

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Among the inscriptions found by K. K. Lele was a tablet with a series of verses in Prakrit praising Kūrma. This is not the well-known Kūrma incarnation of the god Viṣṇu, but rather the primal tortise or Ādikūrma. The Kūrmaśataka is attributed to king Bhoja but the palaeography of the record itself suggests that this copy was engraved in the thirteenth century, probably in the time of Arjunavarman. The text was published by Richard Pischel in 1905–06, with a new version and translation appearing in 2003 by V. M. Kulkarni.[20] The inscription is currently on display inside the building.

The Vijayaśrīnāṭikā

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Another inscription found by K. K. Lele in 1903 is part of a drama called Vijayaśrīnāṭikā composed by Madana. The preceptor of king Arjunavarman, Madana bore the title 'Bālasarasvatī'.[21] The inscription opens with an invocation to Śiva and reports that the play was performed before Arjunavarman in the temple of Sarasvatī. This suggests that the inscription came from the site of a Sarasvatī temple.[22] The play refers to the temple under various names -- Bhāratī bhavana, Śāradā sadman -- and says that it was “the chief temple that adorned the eighty-four cross-roads of Dhar.” Old Dhār being laid out as a grid, the main temple would have stood at the centre. Only the first two acts of the play are preserved, the final acts would have been given in a second tablet that has not been located. The inscription is currently on display inside the building, just inside the entrance.

Grammatical inscriptions: Serpentine scimitars of Udayāditya and Naravarman

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The building also contains two serpentine grammatical inscriptions. These records, which contain the system of Sanskrit phonology and grammar, prompted K. K. Lele to describe the building as the Bhojśālā or Hall of Bhoja because king Bhoja was the author of a number of works on poetics and grammar, among them the Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa or 'Necklace of Sarasvatī'.[23][24] The colophon of the grammatical chart, however, is inscribed with the statement that it is the "unique magical sword belonging to kings Udayāditya and Naravarman, the worshippers of Śiva, for the preservation of language and society."[25] The earliest date that can be assigned to these records is thus the period of Naravarman, a Paramāra king who ruled circa 1094–1133.

Kodaṇḍakāvya and Khaḍgaśata

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Dhār (Madhya Pradesh). Closing line of the Kodaṇḍakāvya inscription, naming king Bhoja and the text.

The fragments of two poems in Prakrit were removed from the Kamāl Maula campus to the Dhar Museum, Dhar Fort by the archaeological department of Dhar State and are still on display there.[26] One poem is devoted the sword (Skt. khaḍga), the other to the bow (Skt kodaṇḍa), presumably that of Arjuna or Rāma. The texts open with the invocation oṃ namaḥ śivāya. The closing line of the Kodaṇḍakāvya, turning from Prakrit to simple Sanskrit, names the work and ascribes it to Bhoja. The writing style, however, is of the early thirteenth century from the reign of Arjunavarman.[27]

Rāja Bhoja's Sarasvatī

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In 1924, some two decades after Lele identified the Bhojaśālā with the Kamāl Maula, O. C. Gangoly and K. N. Dikshit published an inscribed sculpture in the British Museum, announcing that it was Rāja Bhoja's Sarasvatī from Dhār.[28][29] This analysis was broadly accepted and had a significant impact. The statue in the British Museum was often misidentified as Bhoja's Sarasvatī in the years that followed.[4]

The inscription on the sculpture mentions king Bhoja and Vāgdevī, another name for Sarasvatī.[2] The word 'Vāgdevī' literally means the goddess of speech, articulation and learning. However, later study of the inscription by Indian scholars of Sanskrit and Prakrit languages, notably Harivallabh Bhayani,[30] demonstrated that inscription records the making of a sculpture of Ambikā after the making of three Jinas and Vāgdevī.[31][32] In other words, although Vāgdevī is mentioned, the inscription's main purpose is to record the making of an image of Ambikā, i.e. the sculpture on which the record is incised.[31][a] Moreover, the inscription shows that the Sarasvatī at Dhār was the Jain form of the goddess.

Ambikā inscription: translation

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The translation is given here for ready reference.[b]

Auṃ. Vararuci, King Bhoja's religious superintendent (Dharmmadhī) of the Candranagarī and Vidyādharī [branches of the Jain religion], the apsaras [as it were] for the easy removal [of ignorance? by...?], that Vararuci, having first fashioned Vāgdevī the mother [and] afterwards a triad of Jinas, made this beautiful image of Ambā, ever abundant in fruit. Blessings! It was executed by Maṇathala, son of the sūtradhāra Sahira. It was written by Śivadeva the proficient. Year 1091.

Iconography

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The identification of the British Museum sculpture as Ambikā is confirmed by the iconographic features which conform to Ambikā images found elsewhere.[33] A particularly close comparative example is the Ambikā in Sehore dating to the eleventh century.[34] Like the Dhār sculpture, the Sehore image shows a youth riding a lion at the foot of the goddess and a figure with a beard standing at one side.

Present location of Sarasvatī

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The inscription on the Ambikā statue shows that the Vāgdevī at Dhār was dedicated to the Jain form of Sarasvatī. However, the Vāgdevī mentioned is yet to be located or no longer exists. Merutunga, writing in the early fourteenth century, reports that Dhanapāla, the eminent Jain author, showed Bhoja eulogistic tablets in the Sarasvatī temple that were engraved with his poem dedicated to the first Jain Tīrthaṃkara Adinātha.[2][16]: 57  While the poem, the Ṛṣbhapañcāśikā, has been preserved, the tablets, like the image, have not been located.[35]

The Chaulukya and Vaghela dynasties took an aggressive attitude toward Dhār, sacking the city repeatedly in the dying days of the Paramāra regime. They removed libraries to western India where Paramara texts were copied and preserved, the Ṛṣbhapañcāśikā among them. An inscription of Vīsaladeva from Kodinar dated 1271 records the creation of a pleasure garden (ketana) and college (sadas) sacred to Sarasvatī, suggesting that in addition to texts, the kings of Gujarat also removed the sacred image of Sarasvatī and built a new temple for her, not far from Somanath.[36] It is well documented that Hindu sacred places have moved, a notable case being the image of Rām that was found in Ayodhya and is now in Orchha. The goddess Sila Devī in Amber Fort was likewise brought from eastern India to Rajasthan, and the shifting of sacred images is found in Jainism. The practice has deep routes in India, going back to at least the fifth century.[37]

Social tensions

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As noted above, the building is a Monument of National Importance under the laws of India and is under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Both Hindus and Muslims have been granted permission to use the space for their prayers by the ASI. Tensions arise when the Vasant Panchami falls on a Friday. The ASI attempts to assign hours to both Hindus and Muslims on such days. However, this been a source of communal friction and occasional disturbance when the religious group scheduled for the earlier time slot refuse to vacate the premises in time for the next.[38][39]

Claims about the nature and history of the building have been ongoing since the early part of the twentieth century, with the authorities of Dhar State issuing rulings prior to Independence.[9] However, legal challenges to the status quo have been mounted periodically, including a March 2024 writ to the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.[40] The court stated that "The detailed arguments at the Bar by all the contesting parties fortify the court's belief and assumption that the nature and character of the whole monument admittedly maintained by the Central government needs to be demystified and freed from the shackles of confusion." The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of India.[41] The Archaeological Survey of India undertook a detailed survey and assessment as a result of the court order, their report in ten volumes released in 2024.[42] The finding are currently being digested and despite claims made in the press, no definitive conclusions reached and no reviews of the ASI report as yet published in the scholarly literature.[43]

Notes

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  1. ^ Lele reported that the sculpture was discovered in 1875 when the present city palace was being made.[29]
  2. ^ For the Sanskrit text and further analysis, see Ambika Statue from Dhar.

References

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  1. ^ "Bhojaśālā". Archaeological Survey of India. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Willis, Michael (2012). "Dhār, Bhoja and Sarasvatī: from Indology to Political Mythology and Back". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 22 (1). Cambridge University Press: 129–153. doi:10.1017/s1356186312000041. S2CID 154892248.
  3. ^ A detailed account given in Alok Tripathi et al, Report on Scientific Investigations, Survey and Excavations at Bhojshala Temple cum Kamal Maula Mosque Complex, Dhar (Madhya Pradesh), 10 volumes (Archaeological Survey of India, 2024).
  4. ^ a b Willis, Michael (17 January 2018). "Dhār, Bhoja and Sarasvatī: From Indology to Political Mythology and Back". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1154197.
  5. ^ a b Hultzsch, Eugen (1906). "Dhar Prasasti of Arjunavarman: Parijatamanjari-Natika by Mandana". Epigraphia Indica. 8: 96–122.
  6. ^ Dikshit, S. K. (11 March 1963). Pārijātamañjarī alias Vijayaśrī by Rāja-Guru Madana alias Bāla-Sarasvatī. doi:10.5281/zenodo.375588.
  7. ^ Barnes, Captain Ernest (1904). "Art. XI. - Dhar and Mandu". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay Branch. 21: 350.
  8. ^ Luard, Captain C. E. (1908). Central India State Gazetteer. Malwa. Vol. V: Part A.
  9. ^ a b Dhar State; Baspat, B. S.; Nadkar, K. (24 August 1935). "पार्ट १ एलान नं ९७३ भोजशाला मसजिद कमालमवलाना" (in Hindi). Dhār Darbār धार दरबार: Dhar State. doi:10.5281/zenodo.10827582.
  10. ^ Temple, Richard Carnac; Fleet, J. F. (14 August 1888). The Indian Antiquary 17 (1888). doi:10.5281/zenodo.5233055.
  11. ^ a b c Malcolm, John (1823). A Memoir of Central India including Malwa, and Adjoining Provinces. Vol. 1 (First published in Calcutta in 1821 then revised and expanded in two volumes for publication in London in 1823 ed.). London. pp. 28, note.
  12. ^ Raghavan, Venkatarama (1940). Bhoja's Śṛṅgaraprakāśa' (3rd rev. ed.). Madras.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ Kirit Mankodi, "Scholar-emperor and a Funerary Temple Eleventh Century Bhojpur," MARG 39, no. 2 (1986): 61-72. Saurabh Saxena, "Bhojpur – The Legend of Bhoj Continues…" Puratattva (November 9, 2022) may also be consulted.
  14. ^ H. V. Trivedi, Inscriptions of the Paramāras, Chandēllas, Kachchapaghātas and Two Minor Dynasties, 2 parts. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, v. 7, pt. 2. (New Delhi: Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, [1978]).
  15. ^ Adam Hardy, Theory and Practice of Temple Architecture in Medieval India: Bhoja's Samarānganasūtradhara and the Bhojpur Line Drawings (New Delhi: Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts, 2015).ISBN 9789381406410
  16. ^ a b Tawney, C. H. (1901). The Prabandhacintāmaṇi or Wishing-stone of Narratives. Calcutta.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. ^ Gray, Louis H. (1950). The Narrative of Bhoja (Bhojaprabandha). American Oriental Series. Vol. 34. New Haven.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. ^ Munshi, K. K., ed. (1959). "Śṛṅgāramañjarīkathā". Siṅghī Jaina granthamālā (30). Bombay: 90.
  19. ^ Bhayani,, Harivallabh Chunilal (1994). Rāula-vela of Roḍa: a rare poem of c. twelfth century in early Indo-Aryan. Ahmedabad: Parshva Prakashan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Visaria, Anish. "Search, Seek, and Discover Jain Literature". Jaine Library. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  21. ^ S. K. Dishit, Pārijātamañjarī alias Vijayaśrī by Rāja-Guru Madana alias Bāla-Sarasvatī (Bhopal, 1963). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.375588.
  22. ^ S. K. Dishit, Pārijātamañjarī alias Vijayaśrī by Rāja-Guru Madana alias Bāla-Sarasvatī (Bhopal, 1963). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.375588.
  23. ^ Birwé, R. (1964). "Nārāyaṇa Daṇḍanātha's Commentary on Rules III:2 (106-121) of Bhoja's Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 84: 150–62. doi:10.2307/597101. JSTOR 597101.
  24. ^ Siddhartha, Sundari, ed. (2009). Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇam of King Bhoja. Vol. 1–3. Translated by Sundari Siddhartha. Delhi. ISBN 978-81-208-3284-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  25. ^ Saarthak Singh, “Serpentine Scimitars and Sarasvati’s Speech: The Materials of Knowledge in Medieval Malwa, c.1100–1400,” Arts Asiatiques 79 (2025): 5-30.
  26. ^ [C. B. Lele], Parmar Inscriptions in Dhar State, 875-1310 AD, Dhar State, Historical record series, v. 1 (Dhar: [Department of History and Museum, 1944]).
  27. ^ N. P. Chakrabarti, “Section III—Epigraphy,” Archaeological Survey of India Report 1934-35 (Delhi: Manager of Publications, 1937), 55-67 (60) wherein Chakrabarti reports the fragments were found "in the debris some years ago and are now preserved in the Bhojśālā."
  28. ^ Gangoly, O. C.; Dikshi, K. N. (January 1924). "An Image of Saraswati in the British Museum". Rūpam. 17: 1–2.
  29. ^ a b Lele, C. B. (1944). Parmar Inscriptions in Dhar State, 875-1310 AD. Dhar State. Historical record series. Vol. 1. Dhar: Department of History and Museum. p. iii.
  30. ^ Mankodi, Kirit (1980–81). "A Paramāra Sculpture in the British Museum: Vāgdevī or Yakshī Ambikā?". Sambodhi. 9: 96–103.
  31. ^ a b Willis, Michael (2011). "New Discoveries from Old Finds: A Jain Sculpture in the British Museum". CoJS Newsletter. 6: 34–36. doi:10.5281/zenodo.2544721.
  32. ^ Levillain, Johan (2021). "Donner corps à l'Inde médiévale. Les formes féminines dans la sculpture paramāra au XIe siècle". Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient (in French). 107: 88–135. doi:10.3406/befeo.2021.6371.
  33. ^ Tiwari, M. N. P. (1989). Ambikā in Jaina Art and Literature. New Delhi: Bharatiya Jnanpith.
  34. ^ Anon (2 February 2020). "Sehore सीहोर (Madhya Pradesh). Ambikā". Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3633937. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  35. ^ Farquhar, J. N. (1958). An Of The Religious Literature Of India.
  36. ^ Gadre, A. S. (9 December 1943). Important inscriptions from the Baroda state. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3568096.
  37. ^ Willis, Michael (15 July 2014). The Archaeology of Hindu Ritual: Temples and the Establishment of the Gods. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1400173.
  38. ^ Biswas, Shreya (12 February 2016). "Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque row: What is the dispute over the temple-cum-mosque all about?". India Today.
  39. ^ "Indore celebrates Basant Panchmi". The Times of India. 2 February 2017.
  40. ^ Mishra, Ishita (11 March 2024). "Madhya Pradesh HC orders ASI survey of Bhojshala complex". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  41. ^ "Supreme Court refuses to stay ASI survey of Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Madhya Pradesh". Indian Express. 1 April 2024.
  42. ^ Alok Tripathi et al, Report on Scientific Investigations, Survey and Excavations at Bhojshala Temple cum Kamal Maula Mosque Complex, Dhar (Madhya Pradesh), 10 vols. (Archaeological Survey of India, 2024).
  43. ^ "Bhojshala was Saraswati temple but both sides should abide by HC decision: Archaeologist KK Muhammed". The Economic Times. 25 March 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 27 March 2024..

See also

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  • Maihar the temple to Sarasvatī in eastern Madhya Pradesh.
  • Sharada Peeth the temple to Sarasvatī in Kashmir
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bhojshala and Kamal Maula’s Mosque.