The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has allowed Hindu devotees unrestricted daily worshipping rights at the Bhojshala complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, after the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court declared the disputed site a a temple dedicated to goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati).

The ASI order, dated May 16 and reviewed by HT, supersedes all previous orders, including the April 7, 2003 directive that divided access between Hindu and Muslim devotees on separate days of the week. The high court order quashed this two-decade-old order.

The May 16 order added that the site will continue to be a protected monument under The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958, with worship timings to be determined by the superintending archaeologist in consultation with the district administration.

The 11th-century monument has been at the centre of a prolonged dispute, with Hindu groups asserting it is a temple dedicated to goddess Saraswati and the Muslim community maintaining it is a mosque dedicated to a sufi saint.

On Friday, the high court said the site was a temple, relying on a 2024 report of the Archaeological Survey of India that said that the Bhojshala complex-Kamal Maula mosque was constructed using remnants of earlier temples, with the mosque built centuries later.

The court also quashed the 2003 ASI order that restricted Hindu prayers and allowed namaz at the site, and said the Muslim side can approach the state government for land at an alternative site in Dhar district to build a mosque.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who represented the Hindu petitioners, said, “The ASI order brought the high court’s directions into effect and that Hindus could now visit and worship at the complex without any restriction”.

Dhar city Qazi Waqar Sadiq indicated that the Muslim petitioners will approach the Supreme Court.

“The Muslim community had no intention of accepting any alternative land,” he added.