Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced plans to install stone statues inside the Mahakal temple as part of the construction of Shri Mahakal Lok. The decision comes after the Chief Minister highlighted what he described as a mistake made by the Congress party in the tendering process for the construction project.
Speaking in Bhopal on April 5, Chief Minister Yadav emphasised the importance of incorporating stone statues within the Mahakal temple premises. The move is aimed at enhancing the aesthetic appeal and cultural significance of the revered site, which holds immense religious significance for devotees and visitors alike.
CM Yadav made the remark while speaking to ANI on Friday in view of the state Congress chief Jitu Patwari post on X that preparations are being made to replace the idols of Saptarishis in Mahakal Lok of Ujjain for the second time in the last 11 months.
The chief minister told ANI, “The state Culture Ministry has proposed and we also decided that a solid stone statue should be installed inside the temple. It was a kind of imagination that once it could be shown to everyone, the reason why the statue of FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) was kept at that time. Now the project has been started by setting up a workshop, in which the solid stone statue will be made. This will not happen in a day, it will take around 4 years.”
The FRP statues that are currently installed will be used for beautification of the city by installing them at the intersections in the city. But a solid stone statue will be installed inside the Mahakal temple, he added.
“Wherever Hindu temples are built across the country and the world, stone idols are installed. Congress did not know this and they made a mistake in the tender. Now it is our government, we take decision thoughtfully so we have taken the decision,” CM Yadav said.
Congress chief Patwari posted on X, “According to media reports, preparations are being made to replace the idols of Saptarishis in Mahakal Lok of Ujjain for the second time in 11 months. This time stone sculptures will be installed at a cost of Rs 2.50 crore. Artists from Odisha have started carving statues. In the first phase, idols of Saptarishi will be made, after which the rest of the idols will also be changed. A new estimate is also being prepared for the same.”
“On May 29 last year, six ‘Saptarishi’ idols collapsed due to a storm. Because, these statues made of Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) for Rs 66 lakh were hollow from inside. New statues were installed again in August 2023. As soon as the Shivraj government changed, the Mohan Yadav government once again ordered the installation of stone statues,” it added.
“Now that the statues are being constructed again for the third time, can we assume that the old mistakes have been permanently covered up? The new government does not want to investigate the scam of the old government (referring to the previous Shivraj govt)? BJP is forgetting that Mahakal compound is a symbol of faith, belief and faith! The betrayal not only of Madhya Pradesh but of crores of devotees of the country and the world cannot be tolerated at any cost,” he further wrote.
“I demand to PM Narendra Modi that there should be a high level investigation into the old scam and the culprits should be punished, so that the dent on the image of Ujjain and Madhya Pradesh across the world can be improved,” he added.
Notably, when the idols collapsed last year, former CM Kamal Nath had written on X (formerly twitter), “When the then Congress government in Madhya Pradesh took a resolution for the construction of the Mahakal Lok in Ujjain, it did not imagine that the subsequent government would commit serious irregularities in the construction of Mahakal Lok. The way the idols fell on the ground due to the storm on the Mahakal Lok premises, it is a very sad scene for any religious person.”
“I demand from Shivraj Singh Chouhan that the idols that have fallen in Mahakal Lok, new idols should be installed immediately. Those who make shoddy constructions should be punished after an investigation of the matter,” Nath further wrote.
