A plan by a Hindu organisation led by a local official of India’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to install a 3.6-foot (1.1-metre), 1.5-tonne Shiva Lingam outside the 14th-century Adina Mosque in West Bengal has triggered renewed tensions over one of the state’s most significant Islamic heritage sites.
The group, Adinath Puratan Shiv Mandir, says the mosque in Malda district was built over a demolished Hindu temple and has said its long-term goal is to install the Shiva Lingam inside the protected monument after pursuing legal remedies.
The proposal has prompted concern among local Muslims and opposition leaders, who say it reflects a broader pattern of challenges by Hindu nationalist groups to the historical and religious identity of centuries-old mosques across India.
Built in 1373 by Sultan Sikandar Shah of the Bengal Sultanate, the Adina Mosque is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as a Monument of National Importance and is regarded as one of the country’s best-preserved examples of medieval Islamic architecture.
Kajal Goswami, chief patron of the Adinath Puratan Shiv Mandir organisation and convenor of the BJP’s Good Governance Wing in North Bengal, appealed on social media for supporters to gather outside the mosque for religious rituals, referring to the site as the “old Adinath Temple.”
Goswami alleged that the mosque had been constructed after the destruction of a Hindu temple and cited Hindu and Buddhist sculptures within the complex as evidence. He said the organisation planned to petition the Calcutta High Court for a fresh archaeological survey and ultimately seek recognition of what it describes as the site’s original temple.
The ASI continues to classify the Adina Mosque as a protected medieval monument. No official archaeological report has concluded that the mosque was built over a demolished Shiva temple.
The dispute follows similar claims by Hindu nationalist groups in recent years.
In 2022, BJP leader Rathindra Bose said the “Adinath Temple” existed beneath the mosque. In February 2024, a group led by Hindu priest Hiranmoy Goswami entered the protected monument and conducted religious rituals after claiming to have discovered a Shivling inside the mosque complex. The incident prompted protests by local Muslims, and the ASI filed a police complaint over the unauthorised religious activity.
The issue resurfaced in October 2025 after Trinamool Congress lawmaker Yusuf Pathan posted photographs describing the Adina Mosque as a 14th-century Islamic monument. The West Bengal BJP responded by asserting that the site had originally been the “Adinath Temple.”
In December 2025, BJP Rajya Sabha member and current West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya raised the issue in Parliament, alleging that the mosque had been built using materials from pre-existing Hindu and Buddhist structures and calling for government intervention.
More recently, BJP legislator Tarunjyoti Tewari renewed similar claims following a visit to the monument, while former West Bengal BJP president Rahul Sinha compared the dispute to the Ayodhya temple movement.
Police in Malda have said the Adina Mosque is protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, and warned that no unauthorised religious activity would be permitted inside the monument. Authorities said legal action would be taken against anyone violating the restrictions, while the ASI said security had been strengthened.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Md Salim accused the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of using religious mobilisation to generate communal tensions.
“The BJP or RSS, whenever they get a foothold, they start this. In the first stage, they introduce religious activities. Then they create conflict and division. The Adina Mosque is the latest example,” Salim said.
Many Muslims in the region view the latest campaign as part of a wider trend in which Hindu nationalist organisations challenge the status of historic mosques through public campaigns, litigation and political advocacy. Community members and critics say such disputes have heightened concerns over the preservation of India’s Islamic heritage and the growing politicisation of historical monuments.
The BJP has consistently maintained that calls to examine the historical origins of disputed religious sites are aimed at establishing historical facts and preserving Hindu heritage.
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