Land encroachment at Tansen's birthplace

As the Madhya Pradesh government gears up for the five-day Tansen Samaroh to be held in Gwalior from December 26-30. However, a major scam behind the disposal of land surrounding Tansen’s dilapidated house in Behat has surfaced, about 45km from the historic city.

The festival is held every year near the tomb of Tansen in Gwalior and exponents of Hindustani Classical music are awarded on the occasion. The Ustad Alauddin Khan Kala Evam Sangeet Academy and the state culture department organize the event.

Ashish Chaturvedi, a Gwalior-based social activist who had blown the whistle on the Vyapam scam, has written to the government that a syndicate has fraudulently turned the land surrounding Tansen’s house and a related temple into private land using forged documents. “This is Tansen Janmabhoomi,” he said.

There are two properties related to Tansen in Gwalior — his tomb in Gwalior’s Hazira area and ‘Tansen Sadhna Sthali’ in Behat, the village of his birth. Tansen’s tomb is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the sadhana sthali, where he practiced music, is protected by the state archaeology department.

An RTI filed by Chaturvedi has revealed that the archaeology department has sanctioned a mere Rs 5 lakh in the past 20- years for the maintenance of Tansen’s sadhana sthali in Behat while crores have been spent on the musical event.

SDM asked to probe land grab in Tansen birthplace

Chaturvedi alleges that a section of revenue officers, bank officials, and locals is involved in transferring the land attached to the temple near Tansen’s house. “It’s a ‘mandir maafi’ land on which banks have sanctioned loans. I wonder how their survey team didn’t notice the glitch. It’s a scam and I will move court if local administration fails to take proper action,” he said.

Tansen’s birth place has been completely ignored by the archaeology department while encroachers are making money out of it,” he said, adding: “Tansen was one of the nine gems of Akbar’s court, you can’t simply allow people to spoil his memories.” Gwalior collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh has ordered an inquiry.