The ASI, which is the custodian of the protected monument, “deemed the incident as a violation of its rules” in its communication to the administration however has not lodged a proper criticism, the sources mentioned.
The company, which features below the Ministry of Culture, has conveyed that no prior permission was sought from them to conduct a non secular ceremony on the complicated, and requested the administration to make sure that such a violation shouldn’t be repeated.
According to a senior ASI official, who spoke on the situation of anonymity, prayers are allowed at ASI-protected websites provided that they had been “functioning places of worship” when the company took cost.
Anantnag Deputy Commissioner Piyush Singla didn’t reply to calls and textual content messages from The Indian Express searching for remark.
This is the second spiritual ceremony to be held on the temple, which is a “site of national importance”, over the previous few days.
The Sunday Express first reported that over 100 Hindu pilgrims had held prayers for just a few hours on Friday morning within the ruins. And that the pilgrims, guarded by safety personnel offered by the district administration, sat on a stone platform amid the ruins of the traditional temple, reciting from Hindu scriptures and spiritual texts.
The chief of the contingent, Maharaj Rudranath Anhad Mahakal, had advised this newspaper that he emailed district authorities about his plan to carry prayers on the temple, however bought no response.
After the prayers on Sunday, LG Sinha had termed the “Navgrah Ashtamangalam Pooja” as “truly a divine experience in a godly ambience”, and reiterated his dedication to defending and growing historical websites of cultural and non secular significance.
On Monday, senior Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari tweeted: “Happy to see members of Kashmiri Pandit Community offering prayers at Martand Sun Temple ruins in Anantnag -Jammu & Kashmir. Navagraha ashtamangalam pooja sends out a powerful message of Indian syncretism & Pluralism given their trials & tribulations circa 1990.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
