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BHABHUA, KAIMURDISTRICT, BIHAR, INDIA, January 14, 2012 (Times of India): One of the oldest surviving Centrally-protected monuments in the country — Mundeshwari temple — in Maoist-hit Kaimur district is not safe. A major theft was averted in the over 1600-year-old Siva temple last month when thieves tried to break open the main entrance gate of the main sanctum sanctorum. Barely five Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monument attendants are posted on the temple premises to look after the safety of the monument. The entire premises is virtually left to the mercy of God without any armed forces and power supply. The temple situated atop a 608 feet hill is the ‘oldest functional temple’ in the country where regular prayers have been performed for the past several hundred years. One of the ASI monument attendants, Bhola Ram, in a recent letter to the ASI superintending archaeologist, Patna Circle, said that on December 20 last some of the thieves managed to enter the temple premises from its western flank by cutting the fenced wall past midnight. Taking advantage of darkness, they started breaking the grill of the main entrance gate of the sanctorum, the letter said. Experts said that the temple has been subject of archaeological study for quite some time now. While the sanctum sanctorum has a ‘devi’ idol situated in a corner, a ‘Chaturmukh Shivalinga’ adorns the centre. The main deities in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple are Devi Mundeshwari and Chaturmukh (four faced) Shivalinga. A substantial part of the stone structure has been damaged, and many stone fragments are seen strewn around the temple. The temple is visited by a large number of pilgrims each year, particularly during the Ramnavami and Shivratri festivals.

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