When Yusuf Pathan, the previous swashbuckling cricketing all-rounder-turned Trinamool Congress MP, posted on X about his go to to West Bengal’s Adina Mosque in Malda, little did he know that he would turn into the front-and-centre of the story of one other mosque being claimed as a temple.
Pathan shared 4 photos of himself in entrance of the temple with the caption, “The Adina Mosque in Malda, West Bengal, is a historic mosque constructed within the 14th century by Sultan Sikandar Shah, the second ruler of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty. Constructed in 1373-1375 CE, it was the biggest mosque within the Indian subcontinent throughout its time, showcasing the area’s architectural grandeur.”
The X deal with of BJP West Bengal reshared the identical with the caption “Correction: Adinath Temple ✅”
Quickly each posts obtained a flurry of replies, with numerous X customers asking Grok to confirm the claims.
Some X accounts shared pictures of the mosque the place collectible figurines are carved into the partitions, claiming that it was a Hindu temple “desecrated and occupied by Islamic invaders”.
What does Grok say concerning the declare?
When an X person requested Grok to confirm the declare, the AI chatbot stated, “It is the Adina Mosque, commissioned in 1373 CE by Sultan Sikandar Shah as the biggest within the subcontinent, mixing Persianate and native Bengali kinds with terracotta motifs from Hindu-Buddhist traditions. Stones from dismantled pre-Islamic temples have been reused, evident in carvings of elephants and dancers, however historic information and ASI classify it as a new-build Islamic construction. Claims of it being a transformed Adinath Temple depend on architectural echoes reasonably than direct proof of wholesale transformation.”
What does the ASI say concerning the development?
The official web site of the Archaelogical Survey of India, Kolkata, doesn’t point out if the mosque was constructed after desecrating a temple.
It says, “This gigantic Mosque constructed and accomplished by Sikandar Shah (c.1358-1390 AD) in 1369 AD is probably the most exceptional present instance of Muslim structure of that interval,” after which goes on to offer a bodily description of the construction.
One other archelogy web site, archnet.org, says that the 39 mihrabs that the mosque has are “rigorously Islamic of their normal conception however Hindu in virtually all the main points”, stating the columns and plinths within the form of lotus flowers, and the various Hindu motifs discovered throughout the mosque.
It additionally says that one of many doorways resulting in the Badshah-ka-takht (royal seat of the Badshah), was initially carved for a Hindu temple.
