Case filed in Delhi court to seek restoration of Hindu and Jain temples in Qutub Minar complex

The lawsuit alleges that temples were partly demolished by Qutub-Din-Aibak, a general in the Army of Mohamad Gauri

A civil suit has been filed in a Delhi court seeking restoration of 27 Hindu and Jain temples with respective deities and the ‘right to worship’ in Delhi’s iconic Qutub Minar complex in Mehrauli.

The suit, which claims there existed huge and lofty Hindu and Jain temples of Lord Vishnu and Lord Rishabh Dev as presiding deities within the precincts of Qutub Minar, came up for hearing on December 8 before Civil Judge Neha Sharma who fixed the next date of hearing on December 24, reported PTI.

The suit has been filed on behalf of Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishabh Dev and Hindu deity Lord Vishnu through next friend advocate Hari Shankar Jain and advocate Ranjana Agnihotri, respectively.

"That this suit is being filed to preserve and protect the religious and cultural heritage of India and to exercise the right to religion guaranteed by Article 25 and 26 of Constitution of India by restoring 27 Hindu and Jain temples with respective deities which were dismantled, desecrated, and damaged under the command and orders of Qutub-Din-Aibak, a commander of invader Mohammad Gauri, who established slave dynasty and raised some construction at the same very place of temples naming it as, Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque," the suit said, reported news agency ANI.

It claimed that there existed huge and lofty Hindu and Jain temples of Lord Vishnu and Lord Rishabh Dev as presiding deities along with Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh, God Sun, and Goddess Gauri, and Jain Tirthankars along with constellations, within the precincts of Qutub Minar.

It further alleged that the temples were partly demolished by Qutub-Din-Aibak, a general in the Army of Mohamad Gauri.

The suit sought to declare that Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh, Lord Sun, Goddess Gauri, Lord Hanuman, Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishab Dev have the right to be "restored" within the temple complex at the site of Quwwatul Mosque Complex, Mehrauli, south-west Delhi "after rebuilding it with the same honour and dignity".

It also sought to issue an injunction directing the Central government to create a trust, according to the Trust Act 1882, and hand over the management and administration of the temple complex situated within the area of Qutub Complex in Mehrauli after framing a scheme of the administration to such trust.