Kamal Maula Mosque

Dhar, interior arcade of the Kamal Maula showing recycled pillars, with lintels and ceiling slabs repaired by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The Kamāl Maula Mosque (Hindustani: Kamāl maula masjid) is a building in the city of Dhar in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Current status

Otherwise known as the Bhoj Shala, it is a protected site and monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. It carries the number N-MP-117 in the List of Monuments of National Importance in Madhya Pradesh/West. Set in the centre of the old town, it is a disputed location and notionally claimed by both Muslims and Hindus, although the Republic of India has ultimate authority and jurisdiction over it. The ASI permits worship by Hindus on Tuesday and Muslims on Friday for two hours each week. Additionally, the site is open for worship on Vasant Panchami to Sarasvatī. When festivals coincide, there have been communal tensions, requiring a police presence to keep the peace. The rules set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules 1959, published in The Gazette of India, govern day-to-day operations, with the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 also impinging on the management and administration of the site.

Location and history

The monument is in the middle of the medieval circular city of Dhar, likely built by the Paramara dynasty from the 10th century. The city was long one of the capitals of Malwa and the seat of the provincial government in later centuries, becoming the Maratha capital of the Powars in the 18th century. A prominent centre of education, manuscripts compilation, exchange and cattle trading, it also seems to have been a centre of metallurgy, as suggested by the name Dhārānagara (city of swords) and the iron pillar found there (see Dhar iron pillar). After a number of wars between the Yadavas, Solankis and Paramaras, during which Dhar was repeatedly sacked and burned, Malwa came under the Delhi Sultanate in early 14th century. The Kamāl Maula was put up soon after, but the exact year is unknown. An Islamic inscription found beside the building dated 1392 describes repairs by Dilāwar Khān, the then governor. At some stage after the death of Chishti Sufi saint Kamal-al-Din in 1331 CE, his tomb was placed next to the mosque and the building came to be known as Kamal Maula mosque. This suggests the building was constructed before 1331.

Architecture

Dhar, interior of the prayer hall showing the various types of pillars and the minbar.

The building has numerous sandstone pillars of varying design, with most of these appearing to date to the 11th and 12th centuries. The pillars were not simply re-cycled, but put one on top of the other to raise the height of the ceiling. This follows the building practices seen at Ajmer and the Qutb complex in Delhi. In various places, domes of trabeate construction, decorated with intricate cusping and lotus forms, have been added. The mihrab and minbar are later in date, being added in the 1400s by the kings of Mandu in the time of the Malwa Sultanate. Moreover, the building contains a range of stone panels with Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions collected from different places and installed on the walls and floors, apparently assembled for display in medieval times rather like a modern museum. These include Sanskrit grammar rules and esoteric diagrams. In the courtyard, the building has a pool or tank, this recently identified as the ruins of a yajña kuṇḍ or ritual fire place.

Dhar, Kamal Maula, inscribed panel.

Connections with Bhoja and the goddess of learning

Charles E. Luard's Gazetteer of 1908 tells us the building was being called the Bhoj Shala (the 'Hall of Bhoja') or the Raja Bhoja school or madrasa. This was based on the geometric drawings and other learned inscriptions found at the site by K. K. Lele, the Superintendent of State Education and head of the archaeology department in Dhār State. Despite the association with learning, the location has not yielded a statue of the goddess of learning or Sarasvatī. A damaged Jaina statue of Ambikā, mistakenly identified as Sarasvatī for a number of years, was found on the site of the Old City Palace in 1875. The inscription on the pedestal (see Bhoj Shala), mentions a statue of Vāgdevī (i.e. Sarasvatī), showing that the Sarasvatī at Dhār was the Jain form of this goddess. This is confirmed by the Prabandhacintāmaṇi of Merutunga, a text of the early 1300s, that records how the Jain savant Dhanapāla showed king Bhoja tablets engraved with his poem to Adinātha at the entrance to the temple of Sarasvatī at Dhār.

Main article: Bhoj Shala

Recent developments

In 2024, claims about the building reached the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and Justices S. A. Dharmadhikari and Devnarayan Mishra instructed that a study is necessary to “demystify” the nature of the complex. The Bench observed that that “till and until the character or nature of the place of worship or shrine is not determined, decided or ascertained, the purpose of the building is bound to be enveloped in mystery.” Moreover, “The detailed arguments at the Bar by all the contesting parties fortify the court’s belief and assumption that the nature and character of the whole monument admittedly maintained by the Central government needs to be demystified and freed from the shackles of confusion.” The outcomes are awaited, but meanwhile it may be noted that in response to agitation, the Diwan of Dhar State issued an order stating that the building was a mosque in 1935.

Main article: Bhoj Shala