Karnataka: Jamia Masjid in Srirangapatna was built on Hanuman Temple; activists seek permission to worship inside

Mandya (Karnataka): C T Manjunath, Manch state secretary, and other activists of Narendra Modi Vichar Manch on Monday filed a memorandum with the Deputy Commissioner of Mandya to allow Hindus to worship Anjaneya’s idol and perform Puja inside Jamia Masjid popularly known as Masjid-i-Ala.

The activists claimed the structure had been originally a temple that was converted into a mosque. They demanded permission to perform puja in the mosque.

The activist group said that Jamia Masjid has been built on the Anjaneya Temple. They also claimed that there is historical proof that the Jamia Masjid was Anjaneya Temple.

They also demanded permission for taking bath in the pond situated in the premises of the mosque.

CT Manjunath said, “The documentary evidence of Tipu writing to a ruler in Persia admitting that there was Hanuman temple and the mosque where Hindu inscriptions on its pillar and walls support our stand.” “We requested them to open the mosque’s doors to offer prayers,” he further added.

Srirangapatna is the capital of erstwhile ruler Tipu Sultan. The Jamia Masjid is located inside the Srirangapatna Fort, which is believed to be built during the Vijayanagar Empire and taken over by Tipu. The mosque is said to have been built around 1782.

Hindu Right activists claimed that Tipu Sultan wrote about the temple in a letter to the king of Persia Khalif and demanded that the archaeological department consider the documents and investigate the matter.

Tipu Sultan was one of South India’s most ferocious Islamic invaders. Tipu’s army has been accused of forcibly converting, rapping, and kidnapping Hindus under his instructions in the past. During his rule, many temples are said to have been razed. Tipu Sultan had a grudge against the local Hindus and tribals, according to historians such as Khan Hussain Ali Kirmani.

Earlier today a local court in Varanasi ordered the sealing of the premises of the Gyanvapi mosque after the surveyor claimed that a ‘Shivling’ was found in the masjid following the conclusion of the three-day court-mandated videography survey of the complex.