Hindu Temples: What happened to them

While going through my collection of books, I happened to realize that a book borrowed from an uncle some time 2013 was still with me. The name of the book- "Hindu Temples: What happened to them." I remember reading a few pages before abandoning it. While reading it again this month, I realized the book has another part. It was published by Voice of India publishers of religious and historical books. Their website is called Aditya Prakashan, I found two volumes of this book. Part-1, first published in April 1990, is called 'A Preliminary Survey'. Part-2, first published in 1991, is called 'The Islamic Evidence'. While ordering these two books, I ordered another book called "Heroic Hindu Resistance to Muslim Invaders" first published in 1984. All three books are authored by Sri Sita Ram Goel.

'A Preliminary Survey' gives a very detailed account of destruction of Hindu temples by the invaders from Middle East Asia. The writing is supported with archaeological evidence. The book has a state-wise list of temples along with details of destruction. There's a separate list covering the destroyed temples in Bangladesh. After looting and desecrating the temples, the broken sculptures were used in construction of mosques, tombs, palaces and other structures. The stolen stone idols were placed in front of mosques as steps so that people step on them. The author writes about the true intention of invaders which was not just looting treasure, it was to wipe out Hinduism and establish Islam on. The conquered people were forced to convert to Islam. Those who resisted were killed. In some cases heavy taxes were levied on Hindu population. These books expose the suppressed history of our land.

I skimmed through the list and found the places I had visited. Let me name the sites in Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh- Belagavi fort, Bellary fort, Badami fort, Bankapur, Savanur, Sira, Raichur fort, Koppal fort, Mudgal fort, Yadgir fort, Shahpur fort, Hampi, Penukonda fort, Golconda fort, Medak fort, Gooty fort. There are other sites which have been vandalized by the invaders but not mentioned in this book like Manvi fort, Midigeshi fort, Madhugiri fort, and so on. One could name thousands of temples which includes Jain and Buddhist structures. The temple columns below Ek Minar Masjid of Raichur came to light recently when a part of the structure collapsed but this was already listed here by the author. The masjid at Penukonda fort is a Vijayanagara time stone temple which has been covered in green colored paint. It seems the temple had been snatched from a Archaka and handed over to a Mullah. If one visits these sites and observe the Islamic structures, the usage of broken pieces from temples is clear. One need not be an archaeologist to see that. The evidence is clear. The content of these books are not imaginary stuff, just facts.

The case of Ram Janma Bhoomi is discussed by the author. One has to read the book to know the hurdles, the struggle and the sacrifices made to protect our culture. Today when see the Ram Mandir being built at Ayodhya we can smile knowing that the efforts of countless people who fought for centuries didn't go in vain.

The second part i.e. The Islamic Evidence gives transcriptions of inscriptions and other ancient records found at mosques. The transcriptions gives names of temples & places and dates of destruction. They also state who gave the orders and who carried them out, how many Hindu people were converted to Islam, how many sold as slaves, how many killed, if a mosque or tomb was built and so on. 

The third book, as the title says, is about the fights put up by Hindu kings to defend the Indian subcontinent from the Islamic invaders between 636 CE and 1206 CE. Again here the author exposes the cooked up version of our history which projects Hindu kings as weak and submissive. The reality was that the invaders were driven away after every attack. After repeated conquests, the invaders made progress by first conquering present day Afghanistan and gradually reached Delhi. The book has six sections mentioned below-

• National perspective of Indian history
• Arab failure in Sindh, Kabul and Zabul
• Frustration of the Ghaznavids
• Perfidy wins where valor failed
• The lessons we have to learn
• The nature of national frontiers

These books are eyeopeners. Everyone must read them once to know the reality and then we will understand the motives of certain happenings in the current society. Islam is an alien culture and will never get along with Hindu culture or any other religious culture.

Before closing this post, let me quote Blaise Pascal: Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. I wonder if the violent religious conquests by two Abrahamic faiths evoked such a quote in Pascal's mind.

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