Overview
- The High Court on May 15 found the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex to be a Vagdevi (Saraswati) temple and quashed a 2003 ASI order that had allowed Friday prayers there.
- The Archaeological Survey of India then granted Hindus unrestricted access for worship and related activities, reversing the prior arrangement that limited Hindu worship to Tuesdays.
- Hindu groups held celebratory rites at the complex and called for a mass 'akhand puja' and a procession on the first Friday after the ruling, urging devotees to gather in Dhar.
- Two petitioners have asked the ASI and the Union Culture Ministry to allow free entry, open a locked room, remove what they call unauthorised Islamic symbols, and carry out a scientific excavation for buried idols.
- District officials have formed a peace committee and deployed more than 1,500 police with drones, CCTV and a nine-layer security plan to enforce the court order and prevent unrest, while the ruling raises questions about legal precedent for other contested sites.