AGRA: In Uttar Pradesh, everyone’s eyes are fixed on the hearing to be held on Tuesday in the matter of Shri Krishna’s idol being buried under the stairs of Jama Masjid in Agra. Patron and Katha Vyas Devkinandan Maharaj of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Protected Service Trust has filed a case in this matter in the court of Agra.
In this, the idols of Keshavdev temple of Mathura have been demanded to be removed, saying that they are buried under the stairs of the Shahi Jama Masjid of Agra. During the hearing of the petition last week, the other party did not appear in the court. On this, the court fixed the date of July 18 for hearing in the matter. On behalf of the plaintiff, an application was given to send a special messenger to serve the notice.
On the petition of storyteller Devkinandan Maharaj, the court has given notices to all the parties including Islamia Local Agency, UP Central Waqf Board, Lucknow and ordered to file reply.
Devkinandan Maharaj told that he has filed case number 518/23 on behalf of the trust before the Court Civil Judge (Pravar Khand), Agra. In this, the court has been requested to get back the deities of Lord Keshavdev buried in the steps of the mosque (Jahanara Begum Masjid) located in Agra.
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Accepting this, the court sent notices to the Secretary, Arrangement Committee Shahi Masjid Agra Fort, Chhoti Masjid, Diwan-e-Khas Jahanara Begum Masjid Agra Fort, Chairman UP Central Waqf Board, Lucknow and Secretary, Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, in which all have given their stand. Have been asked to keep it. The court had given the date of May 31 regarding this. But, no one came on that date. After this, sending the notice again, the date of July 11 was fixed. After this, the date of July 18 was fixed again.
Storyteller Devkinandan Thakur claims that under the stairs built in Agra’s Jama Masjid, there are idols of Lord Keshavdev temple. Citing history books, he told that in the year 1670, the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb had demolished the Thakur Keshav Dev temple at the birthplace of Shri Krishna in Mathura and built a mosque at that place.
They claim that the idols were buried under the steps of the Jahanara Begum Mosque in Agra. Muslim people go to the mosque by climbing these stairs. The holy idols are being trampled under their feet even today.
Trust’s advocate Vinod Kumar Shukla told that notices were sent to other parties including Jama Masjid by the court on the last date. But, even after this, none of the parties served the notices. He believes that deliberately not serving the notice, he is not appearing in the court.
For this reason, there is a delay in taking a concrete decision. An application has been given on his behalf to send a special messenger to the court to serve the notice. The court has reserved order on this. The hearing is going to be held on July 18.
There is Shahi Jama Masjid near the power house in Agra. According to historians, this mosque was built by Jahanara, the most beloved daughter of Shah Jahan. Jahanara was only 17 years old when Mumtaz died. After Mumtaz’s death, Shah Jahan gave half of his property to Jahanara and the rest of the property was distributed among other children. Jahanara was the richest princess of that time. He used to get an annual expenditure of about two crore rupees then.
Jahanara had constructed the Jama Masjid between 1643 and 1648 with this money. Jama Masjid is 271 feet long and 270 feet wide. In which about five lakh rupees were spent. Jama Masjid is made of red sandstone. The shape of the tiles in its wall is geometric. 10,000 people can offer Namaz at the same time in Jama Masjid. Jama Masjid is included in the protected monument of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Some historians believe that in the seventh decade of the 16th century, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the Keshavdev temple in Mathura. The idols of the Keshavdev temple were buried under the steps of the Jama Masjid. Many historians have mentioned this in their books. In the year 1940, SR Sharma wrote a book named ‘Mughal Samraj in India’, in which the idols were pressed against the stairs of Jama Masjid in detail.
Apart from this, Aurangzeb’s assistant Muhammad Saki Mustaidkhan has mentioned this incident in his book ‘Maasir-e-Alamgiri’ in Persian language. The mention of this incident is also found in the book A Short History of Aurangzeb by Jadunath Sarkar, a famous historian of India. Apart from this, this incident is also mentioned in the book Aurangzeb Iconolism by foreign writer Francois Gautier.
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