ASI Has ‘No Such Details Available’ On Hyderabad’s Bhagyanagar Name

There is no information on Hyderabad being named Bhagyanagar and no details of historical records of the Bhagyalaxmi temple at the Charminar, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has said in a response to activist Robin Zacheus

Zacheus had filed an Right to Information (RTI) query through ASI seeking historical evidence on the Bhagyanagar name for Hyderabad and the Bhagyalaxmi temple. The activist posed a bunch of questions to the ASI’s Hyderabad circle, under which the Charminar and Golconda fort come.

In its response dated August 4, the ASI said “No such details are available with this office”.

Robin had sought ASI’s response on Hyderabad at a time when the right-wing are demand to change the city’s name is rising. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly called for renaming the city to Bhagyanagar. Recently, BJP chief Bandi Sanjay also called upon his followers to ”dig up mosques” and search for Shiva Lingas.

‘No ancient mosques built on Hindu sites in Telangana’: ASI

In June this year, the ASI had also said there is no evidence of ancient mosques under its jurisdiction in Telangana having been built on Hindu religious sites. However, Robin, who is based in Hyderabad has still filed an RTI query seeking for evidence ”pertaining to the Ancient\ Mosques” that were supposedly built on Hindu religious sites, or temples.

Responding to the RTI query, the ASI’s Hyderabad circle, under which Telangana falls said, None of the monuments/sites under the jurisdiction of Archaeological Survey of India, Hyderabad circle in the Telangana state has any evidence of ancient mosques been built on Hindu religious sites.”

The ASI Hyderabad circle has nearly eight monuments under, including the Charminar and the Golconda fort.

Further, the ASI itself has clarified that the Bhagya Laxmi temple at Charminar is unauthorised

Therefore, the Bhagyalaxmi temple that is attached to the Charminar is in fact an illegal structure, according to reports. The structure is believed to have come up in the late 1960s and even the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has acknowledged it. In 2019, during a presentation at Lamakaan in Hyderabad former superintending archaeologist of ASI, Milan Kumar Chauley, had reiterated the same.