Sanatan Prabhat > Location > Asia > India > Bihar > An ancient Buddhist cave in Bihar, under the jurisdiction of its Archaeological Department, has been transformed into Mazar !

An ancient Buddhist cave in Bihar, under the jurisdiction of its Archaeological Department, has been transformed into Mazar !

Patna – The ancient Buddhist cave of the Pataliputra Kingdom is under the control of the Indian Archaeological department. But this cave has been encroached on by the land jihadis and is being used as a Mazar.  This cave is with the fanatical Muslims where they are offering namaz. There is an Ashokan stone edit here stating that Gautam Buddha spent a night here after he attained enlightenment. This makes the cave of historical importance.

1. It was declared as a national monument in 1917 by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).  In 2005, Muslims encroached on the cave and installed a gate, barring entrance to others. They claimed that it was the Mazar of a Sufi who was buried there and converted it into a place of worship.

2. They also tried to erase the edict of Ashok by coating it with white lime and ended up damaging the inscription. They used a green cloth with Islamic phrases to cover the edict and erase any trace of Buddhism from the cave. They also started organising the Urs festival every year and built a dargah near the naturally formed cave encroaching on its roof.

3. In 2008, the encroachment was brought to the ASI’s attention and it wrote 20 letters to the Rohtas district administration seeking to remove the encroachment. But the district administration ignored it. (Is this administration India’s or Pakistan’s? – Editor)

4.  The Indian Archaeological Department put up a signboard identifying it as a protected monument detailing its historical importance and Buddhist religious nature. But Muslims simply removed the board and started spreading a story that a Sufi saint lived in the cave, died there, and was buried inside.

5. The local administration seems to have surrendered to the land Jihadis. DM Dharmendra Kumar said that one key to the entrance gate would remain with the ASI while the other will be with the Muslims who would offer worship at “another shrine made inside the cave”. The ASI would just care for the rock inscription.

Editorial viewpoints

  • Was the archaeological department sleeping till the Buddhist Cave was transformed into a Mazar ? It is a subject of research as to how many of the Hindu religious and historical sites has the archaeological department protected ? It is necessary that this department should be dissolved and people who are conscientious and devoted to history should be employed in the department !
  • There is a small chance of any action against the land jihadis, in the Muslim appeasing Government of Bihar, comprising of Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal !

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