Did a temple exist under Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Mosque, ASI probe ordered

The Archaeologial Survey of India (ASI) has been ordered by a Varanasi court to conduct a physical survey at the Gyanvapi Mosque, located next to the city’s famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The order came amidst the hearing on a three-decade-old petition, which claims that Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had demolished an ancient temple dedicated to “Lord Vishweshwar” and used the ruins of the temple to construct the mosque. 

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According to an NDTV report, the court directed the ASI to constitute a five-member team of archaeology experts, two of which should “preferably belong to the minority community”. 

The ASI has also been asked to appoint an established academician or a scholar to oversee the functioning of the committee. 

“The prime purpose of the Archaeological Survey shall be to find out whether the religious structure standing at present at the ‘disputed site’ is a superimposition, alteration or addition or there is a structural overlapping of any kind, with or over, any other religious structure,” the court said in its order. 

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It also said that the committee is also taked with finding out whether a Hindu temple ever existed at the “disputed” site before the mosque was built.

The original petition was filed in 1991 after a group contested that the mosque was buil over an ancient temple in 1664 by Aurangzeb. 

Meanwhile, Al-India Muslim Personal Law Board member R Shamshad said that petition is non-maintainable and should be dismissed in view of a law made in 1991.