New Delhi: In a giant win for the Hindu facet, Varanasi district court docket on Wednesday allowed the Hindu facet to supply prayers at ‘Vyas Ka Tekhana’ contained in the Gyanvapi Mosque advanced. “The District Administration will have to make arrangements within 7 days,” Hindu facet Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain quoted as saying by information company ANI. “Puja will start within seven days. Everyone will have the right to perform Puja,” the Hindu facet lawyer added.
Earier on Monday, The Hindu facet within the Gyanvapi mosque dispute had moved the Supreme Court to de-seal the ‘wazukhana’ space, the place a ‘Shivling’ is believed to be positioned, after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered proof of a pre-existing Hindu temple within the advanced.
‘Wazukhana’ Sealed By Supreme Court Order
The ‘wazukhana’, the place the place Muslims carry out ablution earlier than providing prayers, was sealed by the Supreme Court in 2022, pending the ASI’s survey of the mosque premises. The Hindu facet, represented by advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, has filed an utility to elevate the keep order and permit the ASI to conduct one other survey within the ‘wazukhana’ space, with out damaging the ‘Shivling’.
Jain mentioned that the ASI ought to be given permission to check the ‘wazukhana’ space, as it might reveal whether or not it’s a fountain or a ‘Shivling’. “I have filed an application in the Supreme Court asking to vacate the stay order given on 19 May 2023. ASI should be allowed to conduct a study and feature study of the ‘Wazukhana’ area. Only, after the study it will be known if it is a fountain or a Shivling…” he mentioned.
ASI Survey Finds Evidence of Hindu Temple
The ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque advanced started on August 4, 2023, after the Allahabad High Court dismissed the petition of the Muslim litigants, who sought a keep on the Varanasi court docket’s order for a scientific survey by the ASI. The ASI workforce used ground-penetrating radar and different scientific devices to look at what lay beneath the floor of the mosque premises. The workforce additionally surveyed the internal and outer partitions, the cellar and different components of the advanced, besides the ‘wazukhana’.
On January 27, 2024, Jain claimed that the ASI report, which is 800 pages lengthy, confirmed that the Gyanvapi mosque was constructed after destroying a Hindu temple within the seventeenth century. He mentioned that the report talked about discovering historic scriptures in Kannada, Devanagari, and Telugu languages contained in the mosque premises, which have been associated to Rudra, Janardan and Vishweshwar. He additionally mentioned that the pillars of the demolished temple have been used to assemble the mosque.
ASI Report Says Hindu Temple Existed
The ASI report, which was submitted to the Varanasi court docket, acknowledged {that a} pre-existing construction was destroyed within the seventeenth century, through the reign of Aurangzeb, and “part of it was modified and reused” within the current construction. The report additionally mentioned that primarily based on scientific research, it may be mentioned that there “existed a large Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing structure.”
The ASI report additionally mentioned that the “western wall of the existing structure is the remaining part of a pre-existing Hindu temple”. The report cited an Arabic-Persian inscription discovered inside a room, which mentioned that the mosque was constructed within the twentieth regnal yr of Aurangzeb (1676-77 CE).
“Hence, the pre-existing structure appears to have been destroyed in the 17th century, during the reign of Aurangzeb, and part of it was modified and reused in the existing structure. Based on scientific studies/survey carried out, study of architectural remains, exposed features and artefacts, inscriptions, art and sculptures, it can be said that there existed a Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing structure,” the ASI report mentioned.
