Aurangzeb gave temples grants, land: Historian

ALLAHABAD: In sharp contrast to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s image of a temple destroyer in history books, an Allahabad-based historian has claimed that he had offered lavish grants and land to the ancient Someshwar Mahadev temple on the banks of Sangam in Arail.
Historian and principal of Serveshwari Degree College Pradeep Kesherwani made this claim based on certain historical facts.“During one of his military campaigns, Aurangzeb and his army had spent time near the temple. During the stay, he not only visited the temple but also offered grant and land for its maintenance. This fact is mentioned on the ‘Dharma Dand’ (religious pillar) situated on the temple premises,” Kesherwani told TOI.
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“The pillar has 15 sentences in Sanskrit inscribed on it mentioning, ‘The ruler of the country visited the temple in 1674 and gave heavy grants to the temple, both in form of land and money’,” said Kesherwani, lamenting that regular use of vermilion on the pillar, situated near Lord Hanuman’s idol, had made the inscription illegible.
He said the fact also finds mention in the writings of former Allahabad mayor Vishamber Nath Pandey, who later became the governor of Odisha. “Speaking in Rajya Sabha on July 27, 1977, Pandey informed the House that during his tenure as chairman of Allahabad Nagar Palika, a dispute over the temple came before him. One of the parties presented documents regarding grants by Aurangzeb, both in terms of land and money. The matter was later referred to a committee headed by Justice TB Sapru. The committee sought documents from all temples that received ‘jagir’ (land) or money as donation from Aurangzeb,” Kesherwani said.
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He said that several temples, including Maha Kaleshwar temple of Ujjain, Balaji temple of Chitrakoot, Umanand temple of Guwahati, Jain temples of Saranjay and some temples of South India, produced such testimonials before the committee headed by Justice Sapru.
Another historian of Allahabad University, Prof Yogeshwar Tiwari, supported the contention. “Akbar too provided grant to the temple to show his ‘praja’ (common man) that he was the ruler of everyone. Patronizing Hindu temples was one such act. As far as Someshwar Mahadev temple is concerned, Aurangzeb might have given or even hiked the grants,” Tiwari said.