Hindu group seeks temple rituals inside historic Indian mosque
Demand to hold Hindu prayers at 800-year-old mosque fuels fears over growing campaign targeting Islamic religious sites across India
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A Hindu supremacist group in India has sought permission to hold Hindu prayers inside the historic Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque in Rajasthan, the latest in a growing wave of efforts by Hindu organizations to claim centuries-old mosques and Islamic monuments as former Hindu temples.
Members of the Maharana Pratap Sena submitted a formal application to local authorities seeking permission to recite the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu devotional hymn, inside the mosque complex in Ajmer city.
The group claimed the site was originally a Hindu temple and Sanskrit educational center before being converted into a mosque centuries ago — a claim increasingly used by Hindu extremist groups across India to challenge the status of Islamic religious sites through courts, political pressure and public mobilization.
The dispute comes amid rising concerns among Muslim groups and rights advocates over what they describe as an expanding campaign to symbolically and legally appropriate Islamic heritage sites under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.
Since Modi came to power in 2014, Hindu groups aligned with the broader Hindutva movement have increasingly targeted mosques, shrines and Islamic-era monuments by alleging they were built over destroyed Hindu temples during medieval Muslim rule.
Many of these campaigns have been accompanied by court petitions, archaeological demands and political backing from leaders associated with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), fueling fears of deepening communal polarization in the country.
Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra, located in the historic city of Ajmer in western India, is considered one of the oldest mosques in northern India. Historians say the structure was originally commissioned in the late 12th century during the rule of Muhammad Ghori and later expanded by Delhi Sultanate ruler Iltutmish. The monument is known for its Indo-Islamic architecture, Quranic inscriptions and intricately carved stone screens.
Local authorities have sought detailed feedback from The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on whether permission should be granted and whether such an event could create public unrest.
In its application, the Hindu group argued that architectural symbols and carvings inside the complex indicated Hindu origins. Similar claims have increasingly surfaced around multiple Islamic sites across India despite disputes among historians and archaeologists over such assertions.
The issue mirrors a broader pattern seen in recent years, including legal disputes surrounding the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura, both of which Hindu groups claim were built over Hindu temples.
Last week, a court in Madhya Pradesh recognized the 700-year-old Kamal Maula mosque complex in Dhar as a Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Saraswati after petitions filed by Hindu groups, further intensifying concerns among Indian Muslims over judicial and political support for such claims.
Muslim groups and civil rights advocates warn that repeated attempts to redefine Islamic monuments as Hindu sites are reshaping India’s secular and constitutional framework while deepening insecurity among the country’s 200 million Muslims.
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