MUMBAI: The Opposition in Maharashtra slammed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for “hijacking” Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga to Pamohi in Assam. They said the religious deity/symbol is already located at Bhimashankar in Pune district of Maharashtra.
The Assam government’s tourism department published an advertisement in newspapers claiming that the 12 Jyotirlingas are in that state. The Jyotirlinga in question is located on the foothills of the Dakini Hills, 18 km by road from the Guwahati airport.
The advertisement came on the occasion of Mahashivratri on February 15. NCP Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule said as per records, the Jyotirlinga at Bhimashankar, Pune is one of the total 12 such religious symbols.
“CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis should protect the historical and spiritual legacy and traditions. They should convey the factual history to the Assam CM. The claim by Himanta Biswa Sarma is false, baseless and mischievous. Bhimashankar is the sixth Jyotirling,” Sule said.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the BJP did not want to leave anything for Maharashtra. “One after another, things are either taken away or hijacked. BJP states like Gujarat were stealing investors from Maharashtra.
Efforts are now on to take away religious centres as well,” said Patole.“We strongly oppose the latest bid to appropriate our state’s religious legacy. The Shinde-Fadnavis government should clarify its position,” said Patole. The Bhimashankar temple in Pune district has been famous among the 12 Jyotirlingas of the country. This pilgrimage area has been in the hills amidst a dense forest at the origin of the Bhima river.
Former Maharashtra Home minister Dilip Walse Patil said the Assam CM’s claim over the Jyotirlinga is an attack on Maharashtra’s religious and spiritual culture. “The geographical borders of Maharashtra are not safe, as the Centre is not taking a decisive stand on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, and investments have been taken away from our state,” said Walse Patil.
The Maharashtra cabinet had gone to Assam to take darshan of the local deity. However, the other side is forgetting our own places. This is very unfortunate,” he said. Earlier Assam Chief Minister appealed to the devotees through the advertisement to come out in large numbers to the programme organized on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
“‘Welcome to Dakini Parbat, Kamrup, the sixth Jyotirlinga site in India,” said the advertisement. In it, the place is mentioned as Bhimashankar in ‘Dakini’ after the name of Bhimashankar. Apart from this, the advertisement also has a photo of the Assam CM.
Religious row
An Assam govt ad stirs row as it claims Assam’s Kamrup is the site of India’s 6th Jyotirlinga