ASI Launches Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Mosque Complex’s Scientific Survey

On Monday, the Archaeological investigation of India (ASI) started a scientific investigation of the Gyanvapi mosque, which is close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

The ASI team has arrived at the location to carry out a scientific investigation to see whether the Gyanvapi mosque, which is close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, was constructed on top of a temple, according to PTI.

The Varanasi District Magistrate S. Rajalingam was quoted in the newspaper as saying, “We have been informed by the ASI that the survey will begin tomorrow.”

The ASI team has arrived in Varanasi and will begin the examination of the Gyanvapi complex at approximately 7 am on Monday, according to Madan Mohan Yadav, an advocate for the Hindu side.

He stated that the survey crew will be accompanied by an attorney for each petitioner.

On Friday, District Judge A K Vishvesh ordered the ASI to carry out a thorough scientific investigation, including excavations if required, to ascertain whether the mosque in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, is situated on top of a temple.

The survey will not include the mosque’s “wazukhana,” which houses a building that Hindu petitioners believe to be a “shivling.” This is because the Supreme Court already protected that area of the compound.

The judge ordered the ASI to provide recordings and pictures of the survey processes along with a report to the court by August 4.

A court in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, has already authorized the ASI to conduct a scientific examination of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex. The decree is the result of a petition by ardent Hindus.

Five Hindu devotees first petitioned for the permission to do daily prayers in front of Hindu statues on the outside walls of Gyanvapi Mosque in August 2021. This petition served as the basis for all subsequent petitions pertaining to the Gyanvapi complex. An order for a videography survey was made at the petition hearing. During the inspection, the ‘Shivling’ was discovered in the mosque next to the ‘wazookhana’, or ablution pond.

An ASI survey, according to the Muslim side, may harm the complex, hence they had rejected the argument.

The arguments were heard in the petition regarding the ASI survey on July 14, and the decision was delayed until July 21 (Friday).