Row over Jamia mosque in Srirangapatna

 

Amid the controversy over the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi, the Jamia mosque in Mandya’s Srirangapatna town has yet again come into the eye of the storm after Rishi Kumar Swami of Kali mutt claimed that the mosque was built on the site of a Hanuman temple.

Hindu activists regard Srirangapatna as Karnataka’s Ayodhya. Notably, Mandya is considered a JDS citadel. Given the substantial population of the dominant Vokkaliga community here and its impact on state politics, the  BJP has been making attempts to make inroads here.

The management of the mosque has made repeated appeals to the district authorities to protect the mosque from being harmed by Hindu activists.

Claiming that the temple was razed to make way for the mosque, the Swami on Thursday stated that there are emblems of the erstwhile Hoysala kingdom inside the mosque

A campaign on this would be launched during the upcoming Hanuman Jayanti, Swami said.

He also claimed that the temple was built before the rule of the Mysuru kings.

“During the rule of Tipu Sultan, the Hanuman temple was converted into a mosque. There is clinching evidence to prove that the mosque was a Hindu temple once,” Swami claimed.

He further claimed that the temple was destroyed in 1784.

Swami was arrested in January this year on charges of giving a call to demolish the mosque. He had demanded that the mosque be closed until it is decided whether it was a temple before. He is out on bail now.

 

 

With IANS inputs