Kamal Maula Mosque

The Kamāl Maula Mosque (Hindi: Kamāl maula masjid), is a mosque in the Bhojshala complex in the city of Dhar, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India.^[1]

The religious complex Bhoj Shala is considered a Monument of National Importance under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Set in the center of the old town, the building complex's ownership and use are disputed and are notionally claimed by both Muslims and Hindus, although the Republic of India has ultimate authority and jurisdiction over it. Until 2026, the ASI permitted Hindu worship on Tuesdays and Muslim worship on Fridays for two hours each week. Additionally, the site is open for worship of Sarasvatī on Vasant Panchami. When festivals coincided in the past, communal tensions arose, requiring a police presence to keep the peace. The rules set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules 1959, published in The Gazette of India, govern day-to-day operations, management, and administration of the site.

In May 2026, the Madhya Pradesh High Court gave the right to worship at the disputed Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque Complex to the Hindu and Jain community, based on a survey conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).^[2][3] The court said that it drew on the 2024 ASI survey and the principles laid down by the Supreme Court of India, further suggesting that Muslim community ask for an alternative site from the state government.^[4][5]

The monument complex is in the middle of the medieval circular city of Dhar, likely built by the Paramara dynasty from the 10th century. The city was long one of the capitals of Malwa and the seat of the provincial government in later centuries, becoming the Maratha capital of the Powars in the 18th century. A prominent centre of education, manuscripts compilation, exchange and cattle trading, it also seems to have been a centre of metallurgy, as suggested by the name Dhārānagara (city of swords) and the iron pillar found there (see Dhar iron pillar). After a number of wars between the Yadavas, Solankis and Paramaras, during which Dhar was repeatedly sacked and burned, Malwa came part of the Delhi Sultanate in opening years of the 14th century under Ayn al-Mulk Multani. The Kamāl Maula was put up soon after, but the exact year is unknown. An inscription found beside the building dated 1392-93 describes repairs by Dilāwar Khān, the then governor.^[6] At some stage after the death of Chishti Sufi saint Kamal-al-Din in about 1331 CE, his tomb was placed next to the mosque and the building came to be known as Kamāl Maula mosque.^[7] This suggests the building was constructed shortly after 1304-05 (the beginning of the tenure of Ayn al-Mulk Multani as governor) and before 1331 (the death of Kamāl-al-Dīn).

The building has numerous sandstone pillars of varying design, with most of these appearing to date to the 12th and 13th centuries. The pillars were not simply re-cycled, but put one on top of the other to raise the height of the ceiling. This follows the building practices seen at Ajmer and the Qutb complex in Delhi. In various places, domes of trabeate construction, decorated with intricate cusping and lotus forms, have been added. The mihrab and minbar are later in date, added in the late 1300s by Dilawar Khan, the first king of Mandu under the Malwa Sultanate. Moreover, the building contains a range of stone panels with Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions collected from different places and installed on the walls and floors, apparently assembled for display in medieval times rather like a modern museum. These include tablets with the Sanskrit sound system and rules of grammar set out in diagrams. According to the inscriptions on them, they date to the time of Naravarman.^[8] A square tank is located in the middle of the courtyard. Ernest Barnes, the one time political agent, regarded the tank as a modern addition and sought its removal.^[9]

Charles E. Luard's Gazetteer of 1908 tells us the building was being called the Bhoj Shala (the 'Hall of Bhoja') or the Raja Bhoja school or madrasa.^[10] This was based on the geometric drawings and other learned inscriptions found at the site by K. K. Lele, the Superintendent of State Education and head of the archaeology department in Dhār State.^[11][12] Some historians claim that Jaina statue of Ambikā, also identified by Hindus as Sarasvatī, was found by British in City Palace area in 1875, which is not central to Bhojshala.^{[13] [14]} The inscription on the pedestal (see Ambika Statue from Dhar), mentions a statue of Vāgdevī (i.e. Sarasvatī), showing that the Sarasvatī at Dhār was the Jain form of this goddess. This is confirmed by the Prabandhacintāmaṇi of Merutunga, a text of the early 1300s, that records how the Jain savant Dhanapāla showed king Bhoja tablets engraved with his poem to Adinātha at the entrance to the temple of Sarasvatī at Dhār.^[11][14]

The building has been the focus of communal claims since the time of Lele's discoveries. In response to earlier agitation, the Diwan of Dhar State issued an order stating that the building was a mosque in 1935.^[15] More recently, in 2024, claims about the building reached the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and Justices S. A. Dharmadhikari and Devnarayan Mishra instructed that a study is necessary to “demystify” the nature of the complex. The Bench observed that “till and until the character or nature of the place of worship or shrine is not determined, decided or ascertained, the purpose of the building is bound to be enveloped in mystery.” Moreover, “The detailed arguments at the Bar by all the contesting parties fortify the court’s belief and assumption that the nature and character of the whole monument admittedly maintained by the Central government needs to be demystified and freed from the shackles of confusion.”^[16] The Archaeological Survey of India undertook a detailed survey and assessment as a result, their report in ten volumes released in 2024.^[17] The findings indicate that the mosque was built using parts of ancient temples.^[18]

In May 2026, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, declared the disputed Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque Complex in Dhar a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, “We have noted the continuity of Hindu worship at the site, through regulated worship over time, which has never been extinguished." It also cancelled the 2003 Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) order which allowed Muslims to offer Friday prayers on Bhojshala premises.^[2][3] The court said that it drew on the 10 principles laid down by the Supreme Court in the 2019 Ayodhya case and the 2024 ASI survey.^[19][20]

• Islam in India
• List of mosques in India
• List of Monuments of National Importance in Madhya Pradesh/West

Media related to Bhojshala and Kamal Maula’s Mosque at Wikimedia Commons