MP Lokayukta orders probe on damage to Mahakal statues; ornamental piece at entrance falls

Meanwhile, day before Nepal Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda’s visit to the temple, an ornamental piece atop a pillar at the entrance of the corridor near the temple fell on Thursday. No one was injured but it caused panic among devotees for a few moments.

The first phase of Mahakal Lok Corridor Project, as part of which the statues were constructed, was inaugurated by the Prime Minister in October 2022. District Collector, Ujjain, Kumar Purshottam told the media on Thursday that the statues were made of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) and will over time be replaced with stone sculptures.

He said: “The statues were placed on a pedestal and were not cemented (for support) because that would have hampered beautification…. We will replace them in three days. The statues were made of FRP and will be replaced slowly.”

Stating that it “takes time” to make stone statues, Purshottam said, “The aim is to convert them into stone statues over time.”

On Thursday, Opposition Congress pointed out that an urn at Nandi Dwar on the Mahakal Lok premises had also fallen, and people passing through “narrowly” survived”. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and state Congress chief Kamal Nath accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of giving a clean chit without investigating the matter.

He tweeted, “Lord Mahakal is the center of faith of the entire Hindu society. The way the idols of Sapta Rishi fell in Mahakal Lok and now the news of damage to other deity idols is also coming to the fore, in the same way, the attitude of Shivraj government seems to be completely covering up the matter. Instead of conducting an independent and fair inquiry into the matter, the ministers of Shivraj government are giving clean chit to their government without any investigation.”

“The Congress party has already made its stand clear that the Mahakal Lok scam should be investigated by a sitting High Court judge. If the government does not accept this demand…a clear message will be sent to the public that Shivraj government’s mentality is to hurt the faith of Hindus and give full protection to the scamsters,” he posted.

The BJP, meanwhile, is trying to pin the blame on previous Congress-led governments, including the short-lived one led by Nath, since the project has been on for long. Senior BJP leaders have asked the opposition party to produce evidence of corruption and has alleged that the decision related to the idols was taken during the Congress regime, and that a work order for 100 FRP idols, at a cost of Rs 7.75 crore, was issued on March 7, 2019.

Barely a week after the project had been inaugurated last year, Congress MLA from Ujjain, Mahesh Parmar, had moved the MP Lokayukta, alleging financial irregularities in the construction, following which notices were issued to 15 officials.

Parmar has alleged that officials misused their position to give the tender to Gujarat-based contractor MP Babariya, ignoring tenders quoting lower prices, and agreed to design alterations to allegedly benefit the contractors. They cleared “undue invoices” without adequate verification, he has alleged.

The corridor, said to be one of the longest in the country, traverses the old Rudrasagar lake, which has been revived as part of the redevelopment project around Mahakaleshwar temple — one of the 12 ‘jyotirlingas’ in India.

Measuring more than 900 metres in length, the corridor has 108 aesthetically ornate pillars made of intricately carved sandstones that depict the Anand Tandav Swaroop — a form of dance of Lord Shiva — besides 200 statues and murals of Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakti.