Mangaluru: The presence of Shaiva Shrine or Matha at the Malali mosque site has been confirmed as per Thaamboola Prashne ritual conducted by Hindu organisations two days ago. Now the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has decided to take a cautious step to maintain harmony in the matter. VHP, which has decided to go for Ashtamangala Prashne ritual to further explore the presence of Hindu Gods in the mosque, is planning to meet the heads of the mosque before that.
As the first step towards harmony, the locals have formed a separate committee comprising Hindu saints and leaders to take up the fight after which now it plans to meet the heads of the mosque. During the meeting the Hindu leaders will convince mosque leaders of the Gurumatha’s presence in the mosque as seen in the Thaamboola Prashne and request them to hand over the mosque to the Hindus. Sensitivity needs to be maintained in this regard accompanied with due documents so that handing over or taking over of a mosque should not be a struggle that will lead to unrest. So it has been decided to keep the opportunities open but a plan has been set up that the deity’s abode at the mosque at any cost should remain in the hands of Hindus.
Meanwhile, a delegation of VHP visited the nearby Gurupura Jangama Matha following the discovery of the presence of the deity in the Malali Mosque in the Thamboola Prashne. The committee met Rudramuni Swamiji of Gurupura Jangama Matha and held a discussion with him. On the occasion, they collected information about the historical background of Jangama Matha and had a long discussion with swamiji about the future struggles. At the same time, the support of the Matha was sought for the VHP’s fight related to the mosque. As the presence of Hindu deity has been come to the fore through Thaamboola Prashne at Malali mosque, it is also claimed that the Jangama Matha has a book where it is mentioned that a Matha was destroyed due to attack by an associate of Tipu Sultan. The book, Neelakanta Vaibhava was published in the year 2000 and mentions the attack by Tipu’s associate. It states that 21 of the 64 Lingayat/Shaiva Mathas in Mangaluru have been destroyed by Tipu’s associate Sheikh Ali Nawab. It is now suspected that the Lingayat Matha on the site of Malali mosque was destroyed in the said attack by Nawab. Also similarities have been found between the architecture of the Malali Mosque and the Gurupura Lingayat Jangama Matha. There is a lot of similarity in the sculptures on the roof and doors.
