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As
the British established their ascendancy over the country, the rights of the Gaekwads of
Baroda over the temple were progressively ignored in favour of the Nawabs of Junagadh. The
policy of the Nawabs was to destroy the importance of Prabhasa as a place of Hindu
pilgrimage. By political pressure and communal aggressiveness, the Hindus of Prabhasa,
Veraval and even Junagadh were slowly cowed down into passive acquiescence in the fate of
their beloved shrines.
The Gaekwads could not, and
the British would not, interfere, and even the temple of Ahalya Bai 'began to lose its
glamour. Attempts on the part of the Hindus from inside or outside the State to take an
interest in the temple or in Dehotsarga were met with communal riots, and were later
prohibited on the ostensible plea of maintaining communal peace.
Author : Shri Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi
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