Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti was stopped from entering into the Someshwar Dham Shiva temple located inside Raisen fort, in Raisen on Monday, where the BJP leader had gone to offer ‘Ganga Jal’ at the historic Shiva temple on the occasion of the last ‘Sawan Somwar’.
According to reports, the temple is closed for all 364 days and opens only on Shivratri.
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What is the reason behind the closure?
There is a temple on the premises of this fort, which opens only on the day of Shivratri in a year. For the rest 364 days it remains locked. The temple came under the Archaeological Department, it was locked. In 1974, the people of the city agitated for the opening of the temple and the consecration of the Shivling located here. At that time, the then Chief Minister Prakashchandra Sethi personally came and got the Shivling consecrated on Mahashivratri. Since then the locks of the temple are opened for devotees on every Mahashivratri and a huge fair is also held here.
According to several reports, in 1970s' the temple was locked by Archeological Survey of India (ASI) after a controversy over the presence of a mosque and sanctum sanctorum of the temple at the same place. The temple’s sanctum sanctorum is opened only on Mahashivratri every year for 12-hours.
