Nashik, May 19 (IANS): Giving a new twist to the ongoing controversy, a Mahant on Friday alleged that a Hindu temple exists beneath a prominent dargah (Mausoleum) near the Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik.
Mahant Aniket Shastri, the leader of Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti (Maharashtra) has contended that the Hazrat Pir Syed Gulab Shahwali Baba Dargah is actually built on a cave of the Nath Sect of Baba Goraknath.
"There are several Hindu idols including Lord Ganesha, other deities and symbols there.. We demand that the Archaeological Survey of India carry out a proper survey here and reveal the truth," Mahant Shastri told media persons.
Claiming historians had provided the information, he also dropped hints that the Dargah, revered by people of all communities, was reportedly built after razing an old temple of the Nath Sect.
On Thursday, Mahant Shastri had given a call to recite Hanuman Chalisa in mosques, ostensibly in retaliation for the ages old practice of showing 'incense' (dhoop) to the Trimbakeshwar Temple during the annual 'Urs' at the Dargah.
On Friday, the government-appointed SIT reached the Trimbakeshwar Temple to probe the case - which shot into prominence on May 13 after alleged clashes in this pilgrimage centre - and will also meet the Dargah officials.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, state Congress President Nana Patole led a delegation to the Additional Director General of Police Sanjay Saxena and discussed the issues of Trimbakeshwar Temple and the recent communal clashes in different parts of the state.
Patole demanded to know why the police are not lodging FIRs - as directed by the Supreme Court recently - against those political leaders, particularly from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party who are making "hate speeches", or taking any action against them.
In the past one week alone, riots with a communal tint have erupted in Akola, Ahmednagar and then Nashik for different reasons, though the locals and police in Trimbakeshwar have denied that there were any violence or clashes as alleged there on May 13-14, and the town has remained normal since then.