Amid Communal Tensions, Authorities Reopen Shiva Temple After 46 Years In Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal

The Shiv temple at Khaggu Sarai locality of Sambhal was reopened by a team of officials during an anti-encroachment drive in the area.

Sambhal: Amid communal tensions in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal after the November 24 violence during the survey of a Mughal-era mosque which claimed four lives, the district administration has reopened a Shiva temple after 46 years.

It is learnt that a team of officials stumbled upon the temple during an anti-encroachment drive led by DM Dr. Rajendra Pensia and SP Krishna Kumar Vishnoi in Muslim majority Khaggu Sarai locality of Sambhal on Saturday.

Sources said that the Shiva temple was closed in 1978 after the local Hindus migrated elsewhere. Officials said that the team also found a Lord Shiva and Hanuman idol inside the temple. The team also found a well nearby, which was completely filled up due to lack of maintenance. The administration team got the temple cleaned even as the well is also being restored for the devotees.

Vishnu Sharan Rastogi, patron of Nagar Hindu Mahasabha, has hailed the reopening of the temple by the district administration saying the move has been made to respect the religious sentiments of the Hindu society.

The reopening of the temple comes amid communal tensions in Sambhal in the backdrop of killing of four people in the November 24 violence during the survey of Mughal-era Shahi Masjid, which the Hindu side claims had been built on the site of Harihar temple.