Preps on for Basant Panchami at MP's Bhojshala

Dhar, MP, Jan 24 (UNI) Hectic preparations are underway for the Basant Panchami 'havan' and Saraswati puja that will take place under the shadow of bayonets on February 11 at the historic and disputed Bhojshala, under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), in this sensitive district headquarters.

Thousands of people would give offerings. ''Various programmes will be organised in the two days after Basant Panchami,'' said Hindu Jagaran Manch Convenor Radheshyam Yadav. A women's kalash yatra would be taken out.

Under an arrangement in 2003, the ASI allowed yajna, havan etc on Basant Panchami every year. Rice grain and flower offerings are allowed on Tuesdays. Namaz is permitted on Fridays. The monument is open for tourists on other days.

For more than five decades, Dhar has suffered communal tension over the Bhojshala issue and in view of that the Basant Panchami programme is always conducted under the vigil of the Rapid Action Force and other security personnel. After a communal dispute in 1997, the monument was locked. Basant Panchami puja was allowed besides Friday prayers.

Bharatiya Janashakti Founder-President and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti has announced that she will reach the Bhojshala on Basant Panchami.

UNI AA-AC 1822