On 13th May 2023, at around 9:15 pm, a mob of Muslims barged into the Trimbakeshwar temple at Nashik in Maharashtra. The Muslims who tried to enter the courtyard of the temple attempted this as they allegedly intended to forcefully put a Chadar on the Shivling inside the sanctum sanctorum. However, those who entered the temple and other local Muslims later claimed that they did so according to their annual custom of offering the fumes of frankincense to Trimbakeshwar from the first stair of the temple during the post-Sandal processions of a local dargah of one Hazrat Sayyad Ghulam Shah Wali Baba. Now, the servant of this dargah has apologised for this act and has said that he will discontinue this custom that is allegedly going on for the last one hundred years.
Salim Sayyad is one of the accused booked under sections 295 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in this case based on a complaint by the temple authorities. On 16th May 2023, while speaking to ABP Majha, he shared information about the alleged custom of offering the fumes of frankincense to Trimbakeshwar – that is the Hindu deity, Lord Shiva.
Salim Sayyad said, “When there is the annual Sandal of this dargah, we hold a procession in the town after the Sandal every year. We take proper permissions for this procession. When the procession passes from the temple, I go there and stand on the first stair of the temple and offer the fumes of frankincense to Trimbakeshwar. We call him Trimbak Raja. he is the king of this place. He rules this place. It is my belief that we are safe and prosperous here because of him. I chant Om Namah Shivay and Har Har Mahadev at the moment when I stand on the stair. I am accompanied by two-three companions who hold various things like a basket of flowers, etc. I hold the basket of Chadar on my head.”
He added, “My age is 66. My father passed away in 1994. Since then I lead to perform this ritual. Before that, my father used to do this all. I remember things very well since when I was ten years old. It is done in this way only. I don’t know why temple authorities filed a complaint against us this year. If they feel that we have erred by doing this, I apologise. I will never offer the fumes of frankincense to Trimbakeshwar Raja again. We never enter the sanctum. But we stand on the first stair. We don’t offer Chadar to Raja Trimbak. We offer the fumes as a mark of the respect we hold for him and as a mark of completion of our dargah’s Sandal. My grandfather also used to do this in the same manner. This custom is there for approximately the last 100 years.”
Trimbakeshwar Temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. Only Hindus are supposed to enter and pray with Hindu customs here. The temple management committee lodged a complaint with the police after security guards stopped the four men from reaching the sanctorum. Videos of the incident went viral on various social media platforms. The four persons arrested by the police for forcibly entering the Trimbakeshwar temple are Aqeel Yusuf Sayyed, Salman Aqeel Sayyed, Matin Raju Sayyed and Salim Bakshu Sayyed. It is alleged that they tried to enter the temple premises by joining the Sandal procession and intended to offer chadar on the Shivling.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered an FIR in this case. He also ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to thoroughly investigate the events and their aftermath. Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, stated that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) would not only investigate the recent incident but also look into a similar occurrence last year.
On Wednesday morning, members of various Hindu organisations including Hindu Mahasabha, Brahmin Mahasangh, Nashik Purohit Sangh, and Trimbakeshwar Purohit Sangh reached Trimbakeshwar temple. They performed purification rituals on the temple premises amid the chants of Har Har Mahadev. The Maha Aarti was performed after the temple purification rituals were completed. Meanwhile, police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
