Hyderabad: The Telangana Endowment Tribunal asked the Commissioner of Endowment Department to take control of the Bhagyalaxmi Temple at Charminar and appoint an official to oversee its management.
The temple case reached the Endowment Tribunal after Babita Sharma, the daughter of Mahant Ramchandra Das, the founder of Sri Bhagyalakshmi Temple near Charminar, approached the tribunal complaining of large-scale misappropriation of temple funds.
She produced certain documents to substantiate her claims.
Presently, Raj Mohan Das, son of Ram Mohan Das, who was appointed as the first priest reportedly in the 1960s by the founder Mahant Ramchandra Das is taking care of the temple affairs and income generated through donations.
Raj Mohan Das, Shashikala, and three other siblings play an active role in managing temple affairs. On important occasions, thousands of people visit the Bhagyalaxmi Temple.
After the family of Mahant Ramchandra Das, approached the Endowment Tribunal alleging irregularities and misappropriation of money amounting to crores of rupees, the tribunal after hearing the case directed the Endowment commissioner to take over the management of the temple. It directed them to appoint an official soon.
Bhagyalaxmi temple and growing expansion
The Bhagyalaxmi temple has also become more and more prominent thanks to political patronage it has been getting from some years. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also regularly makes it a point to begin its important programmes from there. Activists point that even state ministers and other leaders from the ruling parties visit it and seek blessings from god, thereby legitimising it.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has in fact on more than one occasion maintained that the temple on the Charminar is unauthorised. The Bhagyalaxmi temple came up in the 1960s, and has since been there. The monument was built in 1591 as Hyderabad’s foundation by Mohd Quli Qutb Shahi, the city’s founder.
While there are some claims that the Bhagyalaxmi temple was built in the late 1960s, it was however in the 1970s when the first complaint was lodged on the issue by the ASI. What is sure is that the religious structure is unauthorised.
Activist SQ Masood in the past told Siasat.com the district administration including GHMC has also “aided” the unauthorised Bhagyalaxmi temple by giving it a power line. The ASI, which is the custodian of the Charminar and the Golconda fort in Hyderabad, has also been writing letters to the state over decades to shift the unauthorised construction. This was also mentioned by former ASI superintending Archaeologist of Hyderabad circle Milan Kumar Charley during a talk on the monument in 2019.
Masood and other activists have also said that as far back as 1977 itself the ASI had written a complaint to the Hyderabad police regarding the Bhagyalaxmi temple being built on the Charminar. According to sources, the Superintendent Archeologist, South-Estern Circle, Hyderabad, had sent it to the Inspector General of Police, Hyderabad via complaint number ’11/1/HYD/77-M/1945′, dated: 20-05-1977.
A letter was also addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad March 31, 1977, which said, “one self styled Pujari of the Bhagyalaxmi temple near Charminar has forcibly entered the fenced area of the protected monument namely “Charminar”.
A complaint was already lodged against him in the office of the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad vide No. 11/1/Hyd/77-M/1297, dt. 31-03-1977 but I regret to say that no action has been taken against the encroacher so far. I request you to give suitable instructions to the Commissioner of Police to take immediate cognisance of the activities of Pujari and evict him out of the Nationally Protected Monument, Charminar, failing to register a case against the said Pujari.”
Like the temple, there also exists a Chilla inside the monument which is unauthorised. However, that does not extend the way the temple does.
Bhagyanagar claim
Apart from the unauthorised temple itself, right-wing groups in Hyderabad also use it to spread rumours that Hyderabad was called Bhagyanagar. However, there is no truth to that. Recently, the (ASI) also said it has no information on Hyderabad being named Bhagyanagar. It also said that it has no details of historical records of the Bhagyalaxmi temple at the Charminar too.
The ASI’s response on the Bhagyanagar name for Hyderabad and the Bhagyalaxmi temple was given to activist Robin Zacheus. The activist posed a bunch of questions to the ASI’s Hyderabad circle, under which the Charminar and Golconda fort come. Robin asked for records or historical evidence on these matters through a Right to Information (RTI) query.
Bhagnagar, Bhagmati and Bhagyalaxmi temple
However, the Hyderabad-Bhagnagar claim is another issue that has persisted. It is often debated among experts whether Hyderabad was ever called Bhagnagar or even Bhagyanagar. Many historians have raised questions about whether Mohd Quli’s lover Bhagmati even existed.
According to legend, Mohd Quli Qutb Shah was in love with a Hindu woman named Bhagmati even before Hyderabad was founded. His father was the previous king Ibrahim Qutb Shah who constructed the Puranapul bridge. The bridge connects the Golconda fort and Old City, and the story is that it was built for his son so he could meet Bhagmati.
