The iconic monuments in Hyderabad and Sasaram have become part of the mandir-wapsi debate
Charminar in Hyderabad | Sasaram’s Sher Shah Suri Tomb in the backdrop (right) (Photo: Jitendra Kumar Singh)
The iconic Charminar, an imposing edifice built to mark the founding of Hyderabad by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591, has withstood the vagaries of time. But since the late ’60s, below the southeastern minaret, a religious structure has been taking shape under a canopy. Perhaps to keep the peace, the police and ASI have mostly been noncommittal about the temple.
Answering an RTI query in 2012, the ASI stated, “As per the AMASR (Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains) Act, 1958, Rules 1959, AMASR Act, 2010 (Amendment & Validation), the construction of the temple adjacent to the southeastern minar of the Charminar is considered by the ASI as an unauthorised construction.”
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The Bhagyalakshmi temple, as it is now called, has evolved over decades. No disputes have been raised, though the temple is a mid-to-late 20th century development virtually clinging to a monument that has lent its name to several brands, from cigarettes to cement. Is this a result of the city’s latent religious and cultural syncretism? “Perhaps,” says heritage activist Mohamed Safiullah, who laments the fact that the monument has still not got a World Heritage Site tag. “What is certain is that all four faces of the Charminar are distinctly different in design but only the southern face keeps altering and changing. We do not take care of our protected monuments.”
The absence of such care is conspicuous in the visible encroachments at the sprawling tomb of Sher Shah Suri at Sasaram in Bihar’s Rohtas district. The octagonal mausoleum with arched gateways in the middle of a man-made lake is a breathtaking snapshot of history. Right on the shore of the lake to its east stands the Sarveshwar Mahadev Mandir.
A makeshift structure in the ’70s, it is now a place of worship spread over 9,500 sq. ft. A mosque, also located on the lake’s banks, towards the south of the tomb, is another encroachment. The 2017 amendment to the AMASR Act, which bans any construction in prohibited areas (within a 100m radius around a protected monument), has little resonance in Sasaram. In fact, since 1977, the ASI has reported 16 encroachments, a few of which were dismantled. But now it seems resigned to the status quo. An e-mail sent on May 28 to Dr Goutami Bhattacharya, ASI’s superintending archaeologist for Patna Circle, on the status of the encroachments got no response.