Aurangzeb (1656-1707) ordered the local officials in Benares to protect the temples and Brahman temple functionaries. (Ref. Firman ordering mansabdar Abulhasan in Benares dt. Feb. 28, 1659, quoted by the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Page 689-90, 1911)
Mughal officials repeatedly oversaw and on occasion even initiated the renewal of Orissa%u2019s cult, that of Jagannath in Puri. By sitting under a canopied chariot which accompanying the cult%u2019s annual car festival, Shah Jehan%u2019s officials ritually demonstrated that it was the Mughal emperor operating through the appointed officers (mansabdar), who was the temple%u2019s and hence God%u2019s representative.
