Akhara chief demands ancient temples ‘converted’ into mosques be vacated

MAHAKUMBH NAGAR (UP): Raking up the temple-mosque controversy, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad Mahant Ravindra Puri on Monday demanded that ancient temples “converted” into mosques across the country should be vacated.

The president of the ‘akhara’, which is an apex religious body of 13 monastic Hindu orders, also said that there is no bar on Muslims visiting Maha Kumbh.

“When I went for a tour across India for ‘dharma prachar’ (propagation of religion), the dome of most of the mosques resembled that of a temple, and you will find symbols of ‘Sanatan’ inside them (mosques). Around 80 per cent of mosques are on temples all over India,” Puri, who is also the president of the Mansa Devi Temple Trust in Haridwar, told PTI.