Hi My verdict on this just two words - "ABSOLUTE NONSENSE". It is a typical leftist attempt to whitewash history and must be contested. The attempt is to show how aurangzeb was "secular" (with complete desi interpretation of the word). And what would be thier justification for demolition of Mathura, Somnath and hundereds of other temples in maharashtra , bundelkhand , rajasthan etc.... I suspect the answer would be - Aurangzeb did these to punish the "rebellious" Marathas, Rajputs and Bundelas blah blah blah . This writing reminds me of european writers who believe holocaust never happened. I strongly believe that we should not judge past by today's values but this does not mean that we should whitewash history. Regards Akshay --- pabitra saha <pksaha000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > I was recently given this detail. Can anyone confirm > this? > > "One of the greatest charges against Aurangzeb is > of the demolition of Vishwanath Temple in Banaras > (Varanasi). That was a fact, but Dr. Pande > unravelled the reason for it. While Aurangzeb was > passing near Varanasi on his way to Bengal, the > Hindu Rajas in his retinue requested that if the > halt was made for a day, their Ranis may go to > Varanasi, have a dip in the Ganges and pay their > homage to Lord Vishwanath. Aurangzeb readily agreed. > Army pickets were posted on the five mile route > to Varanasi. The Ranis made journey on the palkis > (palanquins). They took their dip in the Ganges and > went to the Vishwanath Temple to pay their homage. > After offering puja (worship) all the Ranis returned > except one, the Maharani of Kutch. A thorough search > was made of the temple precincts but the Rani was to > be found nowhere. When Aurangzeb came to know of > this, he was very much enraged. He sent his senior > officers to search for the Rani. Ultimately they > found that statue of Ganesh which was fixed in the > wall was a moveable one. When the statue was moved, > they saw a flight of stairs that led to the > basement. To their horror they found the missing > Rani dishonoured and crying deprived of all her > ornaments. The basement was just beneath Lord > Vishwanaths seat. > The Rajas demanded salutary action, and Aurangzeb > ordered that as the sacred precincts have been > despoiled, Lord Vishwanath may be moved to some > other place, the temple be razed to the ground and > the Mahant (head priest) be arrested and punished. > ( Pande, Bishma Narain, Islam and Indian Culture, > Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, 1987)." > > > > > with best wishes, > pks > > > --------------------------------- > Rise to the challenge for Sport Relief with Yahoo! > for Good > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to INDIA-ROYALTY-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ