A Nationalist Congress Party leader in Maharashtra on Wednesday objected to an Assam government advertisement claiming that the sixth 'Bhimashankar' Jyotirlinga was situated in the north-eastern state.
Traditionally, the Shiva temple at Bhimashankar near Pune is considered to be the sixth of the 12 Jyotirlingas in the country.
According to Hindu mythology, the places from where Lord Shiva emerged are known as Jyotirlingas.
“The Union government has not yet corrected its incorrect information about the Parli Vaijanath temple in Maharashtra being in some other state," said Dhananjay Munde, a former state minister.
“Now, the BJP government in Assam has wrongly stated that Bhimashankar is in that state and not in Maharashtra,” he said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis also said that nobody can make this kind of claim.
"Bhimashankar is ours (Maharashtra's). It is a jyotirlinga. Nothing is going to happen if somebody makes any claim. Our Bhimashankar has been known as a jyotirlinga for centuries," he said.
Akhil Bhartiya Tirth Purohit Mahasabha also said the Assam government's claim about the existence of Bhimashankar Jyotirling in the state was an attempt to distort religious history.
The Assam government released full-page advertisements in newspapers claiming Bhimashankar as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in the state, Mahesh Pathak, president of All India Tirth Purohit Mahasabha, told reporters in Mathura.
A call to pay obeisance to the deity on the occasion of Maha Shivratri by visiting Bhimashankar Jyotirling in Assam has also been given through the advertisement, he said.
Pathak said Jyotirling Bhimashankar is in Maharashtra and not in Assam.
The act of the Assam government has hurt the sentiments of the members of the priests' body as well as the devotees of Lord Shiva, he said.
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