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Challisserry Siva Temple

THEN – THE TEMPLE WAS LYING IN RUINS, AND THE DEITIES WERE BROKEN, WHICH WERE THE RESULT OF THE RIOTS.

NOW – TEMPLE STANDS IN A REVIVED CONDITION, REGULAR PUJAS ARE NOW OFFERED.

ABOUT THE TEMPLE – Challissery in Palakkad district of Kerala is a region that was ravaged during the Mysorean invasion of Kerala.

Kizhakke Pattissery Prani Mahadeva temple is one of the many ancient temples that is lying in ruins in the region.

INITIAL STATUS – Shivling is intact. But all the structures including the Garbagriha is in ruins and has to be restored. A lamp is lighted everyday by devotees of the temple.

The devotees has been trying for more than a decade to restore the temple, but couldn’t do it for lack of support. UgraNarasimha Charitable Trust has therefore undertaken to rebuild this ancient Siva temple.

Architecture – The design of the Garbagriha has been made by Sadanandan Achary, a noted expert in temple architecture. The restoration of the temple will conform to Tantrashastras.

Revival – The restoration of the temple started with strengthening the temporary roof so that work can happen even during the rains. The first stage is the construction of temporary Garbagriha where the Shivling will be shifted to during the restoration of the temple. The old Garbagriha will be dismantled and reworked after that.

The restoration of the temple will cause a revival of Dharma as all devotees and families in the village take part in the various rituals and stages involved in reviving the Siva temple.

Restoration is proceeding well – The restoration of the temple started with strengthening the temporary roof so that work can happen even during the rains. The first stage is the construction of temporary Garbagriha where the Shivling will be shifted to during the restoration of the temple. The old Garbagriha will be dismantled and reworked after that.

The restoration of the temple will cause a revival of Dharma as all devotees and families in the village take part in the various rituals and stages involved in reviving the Siva temple.

GARBAGRIHA WORK STARTED – The work of Gargbagriha has started successfully, the walls are now brought up and are starting to form the structure.

Stage 1 of walls starts to take up shape. The walls which were in crumbled condition were first dismantled and replaced with new stones.

Celeing work – The next work in line was the celeing of the garbagriha.

After decades of poor condition of the temple, the celeing had fallen down. We have replaced the roof with new celeing ensuring the architectural plan of the temple.

Plastering work completed

Namaskara Mandapam – The work of Namaskara Mandapam has started.

Namaskara mandapam is situated in front of the sanctum where the devotees and priests offer prayers and perform prostrations to the deity.

Restoration of ancient Challissery Siva temple is complete – Its a great pleasure to share with you that the restoration of Kizhakke Pattissery Prani Mahadeva temple in Palakkad Kerala is complete. The temple is restored after two and half centuries in ruins lying buried under the earth.

This restoration and revival has been made possible by you and we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for same. The entire village and devotees of Lord Shiva will forever be indebted for your support. The devotees has been trying for many decades to restore the temple and it finally has happened. I am attaching a few pictures after restoration.

The temple will be handed over to a committee of devotees who will manage the temple in a democratic manner and ensure daily Pujas and rituals.

UgraNarasimha Charitable Trust will continue to work with village community in developing the temple as a charitable institution which will ensure social security and spiritual progress for all devotees.

Punah Pratishta of Prani Mahadeva – Thanks to your support and contribution towards the restoration of the ancient Prani Mahadeva temple in Palakkad Kerala which was destroyed by Tipu Sultan many centuries back.

The restoration has been successfully undertaken and Punah Pratishta ceremonies were conducted on 17 Feb 2021. Shivlinga was shifted back to Garbagriha and worship in the temple has restarted.

There was wide participation of devotees and everybody is excited that after many centuries, Shivratri will be celebrated in the temple.

Alathiyur Subrahmanya Temple

THEN – THE TEMPLE WAS LYING IN RUINS, AND THE DEITIES WERE BROKEN, WHICH WERE THE RESULT OF THE RIOTS.

NOW – TEMPLE STANDS IN A REVIVED CONDITION, REGULAR PUJAS ARE NOW OFFERED.

Restart of Worship – As part of the revival of the temple, Swami Bharati Maharaj lighted lamp and restarted worship of the Gods on 29 April 2018. A committee of devotees of the locality was also formed to ensure the worship and work for the revival.

Devaprashnam – The next process was Devaprashnam where astrologers find as per Tantrashastra the Deities to be worshipped in the temple, the temple plan and other details. The Devaprashnam rituals was conducted on 14-15 June 2018. All the devotees of the area came together in conduct for the temple rituals.

Construction work started on 23 Aug 2018, building of Balalayam complete – The construction work has started on 23 Aug 2018 with lighting lamp and prayers. The first step is the construction of a temporary building called Balalayam for housing the Subrahmanya and Ganesha Deity till the reconstruction of the Garbhagriha is complete. The construction work of the Balalayam is complete as on date.

The next step is the shifting of Deities to this Balalayam. This will be done by Priests on 10 Sep 2018. The Poojas of Deities will henceforth be done here till the construction of temple is complete.

After the Deities are shifted, the old dilapidated Garbhagriha will be dismantled, along with the foundation stones.

Foundation work of Garbagriha complete, stone work is next – Last update we mentioned that the old Garbagriha has been dismantled and the foundation work of new Garbagriha is next.

The land to the temple was under encroachment and we found difficulty in bringing in stones and heavy materials for the construction. Finally after discussion with all stakeholders volunteers cleared the way to the temple using JCB and we could bring stones and construction materials to temple on 4 Nov 2018.

The Shilanyas ceremony – The Shilanyas ceremony of the temple was held on 8 Nov 2018. The stones were laid by devotees and sthapathi after poojas by the Chief Priest. The devotees from entire village were in witness. The foundation work of the temple ie the portion below the ground is complete as on date.

The next stage involves stone works. This requires around 45 days since the Garbagriha is circular and hence the stone has to be chiselled in circular form.

The Garbagriha will be more visible after the next stage of work is completed.

Stone layers at base of Garbagriha complete – In last update we mentioned that the foundation work is complete. We are very excited to inform that the construction of stone layers which is the 2nd stage of the restoration is also now complete.

The 2nd stage consists of five stone layers. The work of door frames and other temple sculptures are also ongoing, being made by shilpis whose family has been undertaking temple work for generations.

Next is 3rd stage of construction which is the walls of the Garbagriha. The work has already started and will be completed in another 3 weeks.

The restoration work is nearing completion – We are very excited to share with you that the restoration work of the temple is nearing completion.

Stage 3 of the restoration was making the walls of the Garbagriha which was over last month ie February 2019.

Presently Stage 4 of the restoration is ongoing which is making the ceiling of the temple. The ceiling of the temple involves the stones placed in concentric circles decreasing in radius.

Though the Garbagriha will be circular in shape, the inside of the Garbagriha will be square. This is as per the Shilpa Shastra and traditional way of construction. The stage 4 will be completed this week. We are accelerating the restoration work so as to finish the entire project by this month end.

Restoration of Garbagriha of Alathiyur Subrahmanya temple is complete – On 13 April 2019, the Sthapathi handed over the key of Garbagriha to Keshavan Namboodiri, the 95 year old Namboodiri Brahmin who had protected the temple ruins for decades.

Keshavan Namboodiri inturn offered the key to the Deity who is the rightful owner of the temple. Later the key was handed over to committee formed for administration of the temple. The committee consists of all devotees in the village and the temple will be administered in a democratic manner.

Punar Prathishta ceremony – he rituals will start on 6 July 2019 and the Kumbabishekam will be on 11 Jul 2019.

The temple was lying in ruins for close to a century and the same could be revived only due to the support provided by you. The credit for revival of this temple goes to our esteemed donors like yourself and the team on ground who have gone through many difficulties in reviving this temple.

A committee of devotees from the locality has been formed for administration of the temple in a democratic manner and the Poojas and rituals will be handled by the traditional priest family attached to the temple.

Sword of Tipu Sultan

Strange times we live in. We see Tipu Sultan immortalized and festivals arranged by the elected governments in his name. Many historians however claim that Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan was a communal fanatic who conducted a jihad in Karnataka and Kerala by destroying several temples, forceful conversion of Hindus and butchered those who refused to convert to Islam.

The letters from Tipu to his Generals illustrate religious fanaticism of the Sultan. Renowned historian and statesman Sardar K M Panicker had translated these letters and were published in Bhashaposhini 1099 Chingam vol. I

Letter – 6 : Sent to Ziyad Abdullah on 1790 January 18th:

“With the help of Muhammad and blessings of God, we have inducted nearly all non-believers into Islam. Few people are left unconverted at the border of the Kochi Kingdom. I have decided to convert them also as Mohammedans soon. I consider this as a religious War.”

There is an argument that Tipu Sultan was a secular who funded the renovation of some temples. Showing the temple in the fort, they ask, had Tipu been an iconoclast wouldn’t he be demolishing the temple in his headquarters first? Tipu kept Brahmins as advisers. They ask why he did not convert these Brahmins if he was an Anti-Hindu?

What is the truth in this? Tipu blindly believed in astrology. The palace Astrologists were Brahmins. Since the temple in Srirangapatnam Fort belonged to them, Tipu did not demolish at the temple. Astrologers attributed the continuous defeats met by Tipu to the demolition of temples and suggested the renovation of temples as the only remedial measure. His donations to the temples were a result of this advice.

There is also a reason for him not changing the religion of the palace astrologists. The astrologists of Srirangapatnam fort were traditional brahmins. Tipu’s father Hyderali was a faujdar in Dindigul when he treacherously captured the throne of Mysore. In June 1759 Hyder could install his aide Kunde Rao by replacing Nanje Rao, the only remaining minister of the puppet King of Mysore. In 1761 June, Hyder captured power by ousting Kunde Rao. So technically he was not the King. Since the customs and ways of the palace have been formally recognised to keep the power intact, the palace Astrologers were spared from being subjected to religious conversion.

Mohemmadan army under Hyder first entered Malabar to collect the 12 lakhs rupees they had to obtain as per the war treaty signed with the Samoothiri of Calicut. In those days, Kannur was known as the land of Moplahs. The Moplah soldiers of Ali Raja, of Kannur, had already joined the Mysore Army. Like Tipu, Hyder’s raids also were also driven by the religious hatred to annihilate Hindus. Hyder Ali and the Moplah’s killed numerous Hindus. He organised his jihad in Malabar by plundering and torching the temples. His son Tipu continued this Jihad of his father and the atrocities and destruction rivaled that of Hyder Ali.

Tipu was in Ponnani, while Hyder Ali died on December 7th, 1782. Being a hardcore Islamist, he decided to convert Kerala into an Islamic country and annex it to Mysore. Brutally, he started over his jihad from where Hyder Ali stopped.

The story of Tipu Sultan is one of genocide, destruction of Hindu temples and pure evil . Recounting just one incident is enough to reflect his cruelty and barbarism. Around 2000 Hindus had sought refuge in the Kuttipuram fort of the Kadathanattu Raja inorder to save themselves from the Muslim invaders. Tipu Sultan threatened them to be killed unless they converted to Islam. Many converted out of fear and they were forcefully fed cow meat.

More than 3000 Hindu temples were destroyed during the invasion of Tipu Sultan and subsequent Moplah riots. Hundreds of such ruins exists even today, where the Vigrahas can be seen with their hands, legs and head cutoff. These temples are mute witnesses to the genocide and terror that Hindu society had to suffer from religious extremists and marauders. In 2018 was started the efforts to document such ruins and revive such temples. Any support towards the efforts can be made via https://reclaimtemples.com//fundraisers/

Courtesy: Destroyed temples of Kerala Volume 1, Introduction. Author: Tirur Dinesh

The book can be ordered online or read on kindle via https://www.amazon.in/Destroyed-temples-Kerala-Vol-1/dp/8193929926

 

#ReclaimTemples

RudraMahalaya, awaiting revival of worship

Article by Nayandeep

As they say truth needs a big cover for the lie to prosper. In the case of Hindu temples, the wanton destruction, conversion to mosques and cover of time as it passed was used to propagate the superiority of Islam over the infidels. What was unmatched in beauty of architecture and construction was destroyed, mutilated and converted into what the invaders wanted the history to remember.

But truth cannot be long hidden, history shows of the strange manners in which truth resurfaced. Minor repair works, accidental discoveries and excavations have resulted in a large no of temples being discovered beneath new structures which were constructed to destroy a glorious civilization. It might have succeeded in other places but in a country which never gave up fighting and where entire Vedas are memorised verbally, nothing could destroy it.

One such wonder of our time is Rudra Mahalaya of Sidhpur, Gujarat now known as Jami Masjid after its destruction and take over by the invading Muslim hordes. Rudra Mahalaya is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Siva. It was constructed by Chalukyas, started in 943 AD by Mularaja and completed in 1140 AD by Jayasimha Siddharaja. It’s grandeur can be gouged from the fact that even Sultan Ahmad Shahs historians in the book Mirat e Sikandari wrote of the idols inside the Rudra Mahalaya which they said could put the idols of China and Khotan to shame. It clearly states that by the efforts of Sultan and his General Ulugh Khan, Rudra Mahalaya was rid of the idols.

Famous Historian Sita Ram Goel in his book “Hindu Temples what happened to them” has given an incident when Maharaja Jaswant Singh was appointed Governor of Gujarat in 1658, his historian Munhata Nai Nasi made a visit and in his words Sidhpur had lost the spiritual glory and importance during the centuries which followed after its destruction. According to him Sidhpur was founded by Siddharao, who named the place after himself and invited one thousand Brahmans well versed in Vedas to settle there and granted 700 villages around Siddhpur to them. The temple was destroyed by the Sultan Alauddin and many Brahmans were massacred, still some portion of it survived only to be attacked by the next invading horde.

BL Nagarach an expert archaeologist further states that during excavation he found “a standing idol of an Apsara”, “four armed Varuna” and a “two armed female deity holding a sword and a cut head”. Even a layman can tell that mosques do not have idols inside them, unless otherwise the mosque is a Hindu temple under siege. It is pertinent to note that the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) report of the year 1979-80 published in 1983 stated finding Hindu and Jain pantheons stretching back to the 10th century. In one of his chapters Nai Nasi had included a poem by poet Lalla bhat praising the Rudra Mahalaya, Lalla Bhatt says “18000 statues studded with diamonds and 30000 flag staffs with carved stems and gold leaves and thousands of sculpted horses and elephants stand in attendance before the Rudra”

In a nation where even reclaiming the birth place of Lord Rama is still a far thought, there are thousands more temples of our ancestors looking at each of us and waiting for us to to build a collective resolve and come out of our complacency of centuries and simply reclaim what was always ours.

As the famous saying goes a closed room is only in dark as long as no one opens a window and let’s the sun in. We all collectively can open these windows and let in the “Sun” whom we worship. Let it purify centuries of neglect and shine on our great legacy. Time to revive our Heritage, our Civilisation and our Dharma.

#ReclaimTemples

Dharmik Revival in Malappuram

Malappuram district in Kerala is now often regarded as the next Kashmir, where the calls of Jihad permeates the air many times a day. Abduction of Hindu women, killing of Hindu youth, desecration of temples, encroachment of temple land have become the new normal.

However Malappuram is also the sacred land of Hindus, where the HinduSamaj once worshiped the most powerful Deities. The typical worship prevalent in Malappuram made the temples famous all over Bharat and people came to pray and as cure for many maladies.

 

The sacred land of Hindus also attracted the most ruthless of all Islamists invaders HyderAli and his son TipuSultan. The many invasions of Malappuram starting from 1766 AD was fought fiercely by the warrior clans of Malappuram. But the cruelty and attacks on women and children by Islamist forces resulted in blackmail and victory in many instances.

What followed during the Mysorean invasion was loot, plunder and destruction of Hindu temples, and unspeakable atrocities on Hindu women. More than 10,000 Hindu temples were estimated to be destroyed during invasion of Tipu Sultan alone. The Jihad against Hindu Dharma were continued by those left behind by his army and their descendants. The Jihad termed as Mappilah riots repeated every years from the Tipu invasion and culminated in the most gruesome riots of 1921. More than 5000 Hindu temples were estimated to be destroyed in Moplah riots of 1921; more than 10,000 Hindu men murdered for not converting to Islam; and close to one lakh Hindus forced to flee. The nature of atrocities on Hindu women can be gauged by the below as recorded in the book Malabar Rebellion 1921.

“A respectable Nayar lady at Metatur was stripped naked by the rebels in the presence of her husband and brothers, who were made to stand close by with their hands tied behind. When they shut their eyes in abhorrence, they were compelled at the point of the sword to open their eyes and witness the rape committed by these brutes in their presence.”[21]

The riots in Malappuram repeated in 1947 during Partition of Bharat and also in 1992 during RamMandir agitation which saw more attacks on Hindu temples.

The situation now is no different. HinduSamaj is now facing an enemy resourceful with cash to burn, men ready to die for Jihad and an administration remaining as mute witness to the extremism perpetuated in name of religion. The abduction of Hindu women continues unabated, the ideologies of ISIS is professed openly in public, Hindu youth are killed in open streets.

However not all is gloom, as was started an attempt to revive Hindu Heritage by those unwilling to surrender and determined to reclaim everything that belonged to our forefathers. The  #ReclaimTemples movement in Malappuram has committed and fearless volunteers reviving the very temples destroyed by Jihadis and organising the Hindu community around these temples. Many of these temples are in places where Hindu population are only around 10% or lesser.

Religious fanatics have openly declared that they will convert Malappuram to an Islamic State by year 2021 and celebrate the 100th anniversary of Moplah riots. Our answer to the same is that whatever the temples destroyed till date will be revived by 2021 and the land of our Gods will also be reclaimed from the encroachers.

We have started by rebuilding Cheriyamundam Vaniyannur Siva temple. The details and the progress of efforts can be accessed via link www.ket.to/kl001

Another temples that is being revived is Alathiyur Subrahmanya Swamy temple in Tirur Malappyram, Kerala. The details and the progress of efforts can be accessed via link www.ket.to/kl002

The revival of each temple is an elaborate process where the entire rituals as mentioned in Tantra shastra and Shilpa Shastras are followed in its entirety. So that means that revival of one temple should not wait for another to be completed. Especially when there are more than 300 Hindu temples waiting to be revived and rebuilt in Malappuram district of Kerala alone. As such UgraNarasimha Charitable Trust is embarking on an ambitious project to start simultaneous revival of all the Hindu temples presently lying in ruins in Malappuram district of Kerala. The objective is to rebuild all the temples in another three years.

The process involves volunteers travelling through the remote locations collecting details of the destroyed ancient Hindu temples, its history and other details. The next process is to organise the devotees and form a committee to be part of the revival of the temple. Next is the Devaprashnam, drawing temple design , construction by Sthapathi with knowledge of the particular type of construction.

For the purpose we are forming a Temple Renovation Fund exclusively for construction and revival of ancient Hindu temples. You may donate to the fund and also request others to do so. The details are as below

Name: UgraNarasimha Charitable Trust

Account Number: 6300101001374

IFSC: CNRB0006300

Bank: Canara Bank Thondayad Branch

You may also donate via our payment gateway https://imojo.in/renovation

We need your support as we rebuild and revive close to 300 Hindu temples from their ruins, organise the Hindu community and reestablish Dharma in this sacred land of our forefathers and the Abode of Hindu Gods. All the Hindu temples in Malappuram district will be restored to their pristine glory and fighting spirit of HinduSamaj will be rekindled in this process.

#ReclaimTemples

Jama Masjid Ahmedabad, an ancient Hindu temple

Article by Nayandeep

They say to build a new narrative the old narrative has to go,and if the old narrative represents something unmatched far superior then breaking and assimilating it is the only way forward for the one replacing it. The same applies to the history of Hindu Dharma and it’s living islands of history, culture and artistry, primarily it’s ancient temples.
Right from the days of Mohammed bin Qasim to the bigoted Aurengzeb and still continuing in the form of various Jihadi outlets in our present times, one narrative continues incessantly and that’s the destruction of Hindu temples or simply making mosque out of them as and when the numbers and favorable demography dictates. Markandey sun temple in Kashmir, Ram temple of Ayodhya, Vishwanath temple of Varanasi are some of the famous one’s that come to mind apart from the thousands of others that were destroyed. One such living proof of such wanton destruction of Dharma lies in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat State of India. Formerly Ahmedabad was known as Karnavati under the benign Rajput rulers and original structure and name of the temple where Jama masjid exists today was Bhadrakali temple. After his victory over the infidels the Sultan Ahmad Shah 1 destroyed the statues and converted once a famous temple dedicated to Goddess Bhadrakali to a Masjid.

Even if one ignores the word and history of the persecuted Hindu’s the very walls and carvings on the pillars supporting the structure are full of idols, animals, serpents and elephant, this very fact goes against the essence of Islam followed by the sultan. Primarily the open space for offering Namaz is crisscrossed by these very same pillars which are built in a typical Hindu way of construction. The question that needs an answer is that why would a Islamist Sultan Ahmed Shah built a mosque with pagan carvings on its pillars and have pillars obstruct the Namaz of the faithful.

 

 

Perhaps the answer lies in the observation of noted researcher P.N.Oak where he delivers an interesting and thought provoking observation where he said that after 35 years meticulous study of history buildings and cities he never believed that among the many invaders, that Sultan Ahmed Shah 1 built Ahmedabad, in his own words he said and I quote “It is easily assumed that Ahmed Shah built Ahmedabad and Tughlaq Shah raised Tughlaqabad. If that were true Allahabad should have been founded by Allah himself and Delhi’s Rashtrapati bhavan by some Rashtrapati”. Among the others who hold the same view is Mr M.k.Aggarwal the writer of the book The Vedic core of human history and truth will be saviour, he clearly claims of the Hindu origin of the Jama Masjid he observes that why would pillars with serpents elephants and fairies which are an anathema to Islam be built in a mosque and that too in middle of prayer halls.

 

Common sense dictates that did the Sultan wanted the faithful to bang their heads or simply took over an ancient piece of artistic beauty and when was unable to match it by his own beliefs he simply did a cosmetic surgery of the temple and called it a masjid but was not able to completely do away with the pillars as the whole structure depended on it.

 

What hope do the Hindus have of reclaiming this Bhadrakali temple? If it’s to be done, the time is now and for that two things have to take place simultaneously, the Slumber and Dhimmitude of the present has to go and Hindu Renaissance and Revival has to be forged.

 

#ReclaimTemples

Destruction of Hindu Temples by Muslim invaders

Article by @OGSaffron

Little discussed or highlighted is the psychosocial aspect that accompanied most of, if not all, the instances wherein Hindu temples were destroyed. As Jonsson (2006) points out: When “Muslim invaders broke and burned everything beautiful they came across in Hindustan,” they were “displaying the resentment of the less developed warriors who felt intimidated in [their] encounter with a more refined culture” (p. 86).

Indeed, for the Muslim invaders, the Hindu infidels—these “refined” pagans, the Kafirs—were “heathens, par excellence” (Jonsson, 2006, p. 86). Therefore, how could they build such extravagantly ornamented, finely constructed buildings if they were not Muslim? Are not the infidels supposed to be inferior in every respect to the zealous believer, to those who do not join other gods with the One True God?

When one examines the many architectural remnants that have survived in their “hybrid” form—as even the politically correct archaeologists would have us believe in “fusions” of Dharmic and Islamic “architecture” being congregational and intercultural rather than ferocious and resentful—visible is the mosque type that is the conquest mosque. The foundation of such “hybridity” is not the benign intercultural notion that secular ideologues would have us accept but instead a profound hatred of the Hindu and his place of worship. Almost every “hybrid” expression that has come down to us surviving in the form of the conquest mosque is a religious declaration, through architectural continuity, of Muslim superiority over Hindu heathenry.

To define the common feature of such “hybridity” is to capture the essence of the conquest mosque. Mosques of conquest are “mosques that are all built on the sites of dismantled temples and employ recut columns and other spolia taken from the destroyed monument” (Wagoner & Rice, 2001, p. 90).

To give an example, take for instance the inscription on the eastern gate of the Quwwat al-Islam mosque—a conquest mosque that stands as the “Might of Islam”—which records “that the mosque was built with spolia taken from twenty-seven different temples; these spolia include columns, bracket capitals, ceiling panels, and other decorative members, and the mosque can be seen to be founded on the plinth of one of the destroyed temples” (Wagoner & Rice, 2001, p. 90).

The usage of spolia from destroyed Hindu temples in the construction of conquest mosques, often on the sites of dismantled Hindu temples, is not entirely a matter of convenience and/or intercultural sharing, as secularist and Marxist historians often argue.

On the contrary, conquest mosques project quite vividly “the ghazis’ attitude toward the Hindu majority” based on “the virtues of [their] belief in Islam” where “the need to reinforce the spiritual and political authority of Islam through architecture” is in direct response to “the evils of idolatry and polytheism” (Welch & Crane, 1983, p. 124). Take, for example, Firuz Shah Tughluq’s assertion of Muslim orthodoxy when personally destroying the images of Hindu gods. These images “were burned in a place otherwise reserved for public executions and the punishment of criminals” (Flood, 2002, p. 648). The images of Hindu gods were destroyed, desecrated, or mutilated not only because of anti-heathenry, but also on the little discussed insight that the images represented the potency and purposefulness of a very sophisticated non-Muslim civilization that challenged the religious primacy of an Abrahamic faith whose zealous followers emphasized the superiority of its anti-idolatry creed (Wink, 1997). To render the idols powerless was to wash away the intimidation and shame brought on from encountering a more refined culture.

Therefore, the architectural patronage of Muslim sultans so incessantly praised by the rewriters of history is instead, and can be captured more realistically as, the religious declaration of Muslim supremacy over the nonbeliever, where Islam has been triumphant and idolatry has been subdued (Welch, Keshani, & Bain, 2002, p. 33). After all, “Muslim ghazis had brought the Jihad to India” (Welch et al., 2002, p. 31). And with that came the destruction of places of idol worship, and establishing “the foundation of congregations of Islam” in systematic fashion (Welch et al., 2002, p. 33).

To such a zealous mind, experiencing the existence of sophisticated heathenry, represented herein by the Hindu architectural tradition, was discontenting. As Lord Byron (1847, p. 293) put it: “They have raised a mosque…[and] they are not contented with their own grotesque edifice, unless they destroy the prior and purely beautiful fabric which preceded, and which shames them and theirs for ever and ever.”

Byron, G. (1847). Letter to John Murray on the Rev. W. L. Bowles’s strictures on the life and writings of Pope. In F. G. Halleck (Ed.), The works of Lord Byron; In verse and prose (p. 293). Hartford, CT: Silas Andrus & Son. (Original work published 1821)
Flood, F. (2002). Between cult and culture: Bamiyan, Islamic iconoclasm, and the museum. The Art Bulletin, 84(4), 641–659. http:/dx.doi.org/10.2307/3177288
Jonsson, D. (2006). Islamic economics and the final jihad: The Muslim Brotherhood to the Leftist/Marxist Islamist alliance. Maitland, FL: Xulon Press.
Wagoner, P., & Rice, J. (2001). From Delhi to the Deccan: Newly discovered Tughluq monuments at Warangal-Sultanpur and the beginnings of Indo-Islamic architecture in southern India. Artibus Asiae, 61(1), 77–117. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3249963
Welch, A., & Crane, H. (1983). The Tughluqs: Master builders of the Delhi Sultanate. Muqarnas, 1, 123–166. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1523075
Welch, A., Keshani, H., & Bain, A. (2002). Epigraphs, scripture, and architecture in the early Delhi Sultanate. Muqarnas, 19, 12–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1523314
Wink, A. (1997). Al Hind, the making of the Indo-Islamic world: The slave kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th–13th centuries (Vol. 2). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.