Subhechcha Ganguly 
The Ganesha idols engraved in the Qutub Minar complex have been the subject of a 6-month dispute and demands from several Hindu organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The Archaeological Survey of India has now removed the iron grills covering the deities, making them visible to the general public.
Two Ganesha statues that are located in the compound of the 12th-century UNESCO world heritage site, “Ulta Ganesha” (as it was previously thought to be), and “Ganesha in a cage,” had been covered by iron meshes in the past.
While the other idol is located near to the ground level and is a part of the same mosque, “Ulta Ganesh” is located on the south-facing wall of the Quwwatu’l-Islam mosque in the compound.
In April of this year, the National Museums Authority (NMA) requested that the ASI remove the two Ganesh statues from the mosque compound and provide an acceptable location for them in the National Museum.The BJP politician Tarun Vijay, the chairman, had written to the ASI to complain that the “placing of the idols was exceedingly insulting.”
“After repeated trips to the site, I realised how disrespectful the idols’ location was. They approach the mosque visitors’ feet,” he stated. The ASI was instructed to keep the status quo until the next hearing as the idol removal case made its way to the Delhi Court.
The idols have been cleaned, wrapped in bulletproof glass, and are now open to the public after the iron meshes were taken down.Additionally, it has been discovered that “Ulta Ganesh,” which was previously thought to be inverted, is actually upright.
However, the ASI has not yet granted visitors permission to perform “puja” in the compound in honour of the deity.Numerous Hindu organisations have long asserted that Qutub-ud-din Aibak destroyed 27 Hindu and Jain temples in order to construct the mosque. Even before it was restored during the Mughal conquest, the 73-meter-tall tower was referred to by the VHP as “Vishnu Stambh.”
