ASI team to survey reopened ‘ancient’ temple in UP’s Sambhal town today

The temple, said to have been closed for the last 46 years, was found in the Khaggu Sarai area on Dec 14 when a massive drive was underway in Sambhal town against alleged power theft.

A team from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) will carry out a survey of the ‘ancient’ Kartikeswar Mahadev Temple, which was recently reopened by the district administration, in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal on Friday afternoon.

Heavy police force has been deployed at the temple since morning to avoid any untoward incident during the survey similar to the violence that led to the death of four people in Sambhal on November 24 when a court-appointed team carried out a survey at the Shahi Jama Masjid in the wake of a petition claiming that a temple which existed there had been bulldozed for a mosque.

The ASI team reached Moradabad on Thursday evening and plans to start the survey after Friday prayers at the Shahi mosque, the police said.

The temple, which is said to have been closed for the last 46 years, was found in the Khaggu Sarai locality on December 14 when a massive drive was underway in Sambhal town against alleged power theft and irregular electricity connections. The structure is thought to be 400 to 500 years old, the local residents said, adding that the ASI survey would determine its exact age.

When District Magistrate Dr Rajender Pensiya and Superintendent of Police Krishna Kant Bishnoi got the main door of the temple opened, three damaged idols – of Goddess Parvati and her sons Ganesha and Kartikeya – were found inside. The broken idols are now in the local administration’s possession.

The district magistrate then wrote to the ASI requesting a survey of the temple, its idols, and the well outside through carbon dating.

Regular prayers are being performed at the temple by local residents and Hindu outfit members since December 15.

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