Waqf Tribunal blocks Temple Trust & Gram Panchayat members from entering the temple
Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra : A dispute is intensifying between the Waqf Board and the Kanifnath Temple Trust over 40 acres of land at the Kanifnath Temple in Guha village, Rahuri Taluka. The Waqf Board claims this land belongs to a Dargah and was registered under the Waqf Act in 2005. The Kanifnath Temple Trust asserts they have historical documents to prove ownership dating back to pre-British times. The dispute has intensified amid alleged efforts to convert the temple into a Dargah, leading the case to the Waqf Tribunal. The tribunal has since issued an order prohibiting alterations to the temple’s structure and has barred 19 members of the Temple Trust and Gram Panchayat from accessing the site.
Statement from Kanifnath Temple Trustee Shrihari Ambekar
Trustee Shrihari Ambekar shared that the land was initially granted to Shankar Bhai’s wife, Biban, for Seva. In 2005, local Muslim residents allegedly misused Waqf Act procedures to register the land under the Waqf Board without notifying the temple trustees. At the time, Rahuri District Court had noted that the land belonged to the Kanifnath Devasthan and clarified that the trustees were only managers without ownership rights.
Kanifnath Maharaj is said to have created an underground pathway from the temple with his supernatural power for secret movement, remnants of which still exist today. It is believed this pathway led to the name “Guha” for the village. This historical information is detailed in the Hindu religious text Shri Navnath Bhaktisar. This is important evidence. The temple was constructed by devotees for their meditation as Kanifnath Maharaj had stayed there. Later, when Aurangzeb invaded, he converted the local devotees, awarding them the land. Due to conversion, they became Muslims but originally, they are Maratha (Hindus).
