Ancient Shiva Temple Discovered At Sambhal After 46 Years Historically a Pilgrimage Site, Says Advocate

The new Shiva temple discovered in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal is a pilgrimage site says Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain on Monday. Reacting to the recent developments in the Sambhal issue, he said that the district administration of Sambhal has discovered the temple which was closed for 46 years say that Sambhal is a pilgrimage site.

“In Sambhal, the district administration discovered a temple which was closed for 46 years… All this proves that our ancient map, which I always said existed, has been unearthed and proves that Sambhal is a pilgrimage site… In the vicinity of the temple, many wells and other temples are being discovered which proves the ancient map of the area… The SC order of December 12 is not applicable here because it said that no effective order will be passed in the existing suits. The SC further case that no new case will be registered… I am not satisfied with the SC’s order of December 12,” said Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the interim order passed by the Supreme Court, Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said, “We had challenged the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship Act, we had expected that a hearing would be held on that, but we got to know that AIMPLB had applied to the SC to implement the Places of Worship Act. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had also filed an application. We had no idea that an interim order on their application would be immediately passed… I am not satisfied with the interim order… If anything, implementation of the act should have been stopped in that interim order…”

Meanwhile, three idols were recovered from a well near the ancient Shiva-Hanuman Temple in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following the temple’s reopening during an anti-encroachment drive.

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The temple, which had reportedly remained closed since 1978, was reopened on December 14 as part of an encroachment clearance operation carried out by local police and administration.

Sambhal Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shrish Chandra said, “These are broken idols that were found during the digging of the well. There is an idol of Lord Ganesh. The other one seems to be of Lord Kartikeya, more details are being sought. There was debris and soil in the well. The idols were discovered when it was dug…The area has been secured so that excavation can be done smoothly.”

On Monday, devotees painted ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ and ‘Har Har Mahadeva’ slogans on the walls of the newly discovered temple. Following its reopening, the temple premises were further cleaned, and electricity connections were restored with the installation of CCTV cameras for security purposes.