NEW DELHI — A proposal by a Hindu organisation to install a 3.6-foot-tall, 1.5-tonne Shiva Lingam outside the centuries-old Adina Mosque in West Bengal’s Malda district has reignited tensions after a dispute over the origins of one of eastern India’s most prominent Islamic monuments.
The initiative is being led by the Adinath Puratan Shiv Mandir organisation, headed by Kajal Goswami, who also serves as convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Good Governance Wing in North Bengal. The group argues that the mosque stands on the site of an ancient Hindu temple and has said it ultimately hopes to install the Shiva Lingam inside the protected complex through legal means.
The announcement has sparked concern among local Muslims and opposition parties, who view the move as part of a wider campaign by Hindu nationalist groups to challenge the historical identity of several medieval mosques across the country.
Constructed in 1373 during the reign of Sultan Sikandar Shah of the Bengal Sultanate, the Adina Mosque is recognised as a Monument of National Importance and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The structure is widely regarded as one of the finest surviving examples of medieval Islamic architecture in the Indian subcontinent.
In a social media appeal, Goswami called on supporters to gather near the mosque for religious rituals, referring to the site as the “old Adinath Temple.” He alleged that the mosque had been built after the demolition of a Hindu shrine, pointing to the presence of Hindu and Buddhist carvings within the complex as evidence. According to Goswami, the organisation plans to approach the Calcutta High Court seeking a fresh archaeological survey before pursuing legal recognition of what it believes to be the site’s original religious character.
However, the ASI continues to identify the Adina Mosque as a protected medieval monument, and no official archaeological study has concluded that it was constructed over the remains of a demolished Shiva temple.
The latest controversy is not the first involving the site.
In 2022, BJP leader Rathindra Bose claimed that an ancient Adinath temple lay beneath the mosque. Two years later, in February 2024, a group led by Hindu priest Hiranmoy Goswami entered the protected monument and performed religious rituals after claiming to have discovered a Shivling within the mosque complex. The incident drew protests from members of the local Muslim community, while the ASI lodged a police complaint over the unauthorised religious activity.
The debate resurfaced in October 2025 after Trinamool Congress MP Yusuf Pathan shared photographs describing the Adina Mosque as a 14th-century Islamic monument. The West Bengal BJP responded by reiterating its claim that the site had originally been an Adinath temple.
The issue gained further political attention in December 2025 when BJP Rajya Sabha MP and current West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya raised the matter in Parliament. He alleged that the mosque had been built using material from earlier Hindu and Buddhist structures and urged the government to intervene.
More recently, BJP MLA Tarunjyoti Tewari echoed similar claims after visiting the monument, while former state BJP president Rahul Sinha likened the campaign surrounding the site to the Ayodhya movement.
Police in Malda have said the Adina Mosque falls under the protection of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, and stressed that no unauthorised religious activities would be permitted within the monument. Officials warned that anyone violating the law would face legal action, while the ASI said additional security arrangements had been put in place.
Reacting to the development, Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Md Salim accused the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of using religious issues to create communal polarisation.
“Whenever the BJP or RSS gains a foothold, this is how it begins. First comes religious mobilisation, followed by conflict and division. The Adina Mosque is the latest example,” Salim told the media.
For many Muslims in the region, the renewed campaign around the Adina Mosque reflects a broader pattern in which historical mosques are increasingly targeted through public campaigns, legal petitions and political rhetoric.
The BJP, however, has maintained that calls for fresh archaeological examinations and legal scrutiny are intended to establish historical facts and safeguard what it describes as India’s Hindu heritage.
