Bhoj Shala

The Bhojshala (IAST: Bhojaśālā, sometimes Bhoj Shala, meaning 'Hall of Bhoja') is located in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the site of the early 11th century centre for Sanskrit studies and temple of Sarasvatī – the Hindu goddess of learning, music and arts – located in the hall's precincts. Bhojshala is attributed to celebrated King Bhoja of the Paramāra dynasty of central India, a great patron of education and arts, and to whom major Hindu Sanskrit works on poetics, yoga and architecture are attributed. The term Bhojashala became linked to a later era mosque and tombs that exist immediately next to it, an association that started in early 20th century, though the Islamic structures were built between the 14th and 15th century.

Bhojshala is also an archaeological site, one which is disputed between Hindus and Muslims. The site excavation since the 19th century has yielded information on medieval era Indian religions particularly of Hinduism and Jainism, as well as a goddess statue that was housed in the British Museum but whose current location is a mystery. The site also houses the Kamal-Maula mosque with four Sufi tombs, wherein the hypostyle mosque was built primarily from demolished temple pillars and parts around 1400 CE, while the tomb of Kamal al-Din Malawi (c. 1238-1330) is older. The Muslims use the mosque for Friday prayers and Islamic festivals, while the Hindus pray on Tuesday. The Hindu also attempt to pray to goddess Saraswati at the site particularly on Vasant Panchami festival, and this been a source of Hindu-Muslim conflicts and occasional riots when Vasant Panchami falls on a Friday.

King Bhoja, who ruled between circa 1000 and 1055 in central India, is considered in the Hindu tradition as one of the exceptional kings. He was a celebrated patron of arts, and out of reverence for him, Hindu scholars that followed traditionally attributed a large number of Sanskrit works on philosophy, astronomy, grammar medicine, yoga, architecture and other subjects to him. Of these, a well studied and influential text is in the field of poetics called Śṛṅgaraprakāśa.

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