Gyanvapi mosque built after demolishing temple, claims Hindu side lawyer citing ASI survey report

Lucknow: The lawyer of the Hindu plaintiffs in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Mosque case on Thursday claimed that the report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which conducted a scientific survey of the contentious Gyanvapi Mosque premises in Varanasi and submitted the survey report in the district court earlier, said that the mosque had been built after demolishing a Hindu temple in the 17th century.

The lawyer, Vishnu Shankar Jain, who was handed over a certified copy of the ASI report following the order of a Varanasi court on Wednesday, told reporters in Varanasi that the ASI report stated that there existed a Hindu temple where the mosque stands today.

He said that the over 800-page report had also found ancient scriptures in Kannada, Devanagari and Telugu languages. The scriptures were about Rudra, Janardan and Vishweshwar.

Jain claimed that the ASI report also said that the western wall of the Gyanvapi mosque was part of a Hindu temple and could easily be identified. He also claimed that the report found 'Mahamukti Mandapam' written at a place which was a very significant sign that there existed a temple there earlier.

The lawyer claimed that the report said that the pillars of the demolished temple were used to build the mosque.

The Varanasi court had on Wednesday directed for handing over the hard certified copies of the ASI report to the lawyers of the rival sides. Both Hindu and the Muslim sides had sought copies of the ASI survey report.

The ASI had submitted the report in two sealed covers last month in the court. The ASI, during the scientific survey, which had started on August 4, used ground penetrating radar and other scientific instruments to ascertain what lay beneath the surface of the Gyanvapi Mosque premises. The ASI team also surveyed the inner and outer walls, the cellar and other parts of the premises barring the 'wuzukhana' (the place where the Muslims wash themselves before proceeding to offer prayers).

The survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque premises began after the Allahabad high court rejected the petition filed by the Muslim litigants seeking a stay on the Varanasi court's order for a scientific survey by the ASI.

The premises had been a bone of contention between the two communities for the past several decades but there was renewed clamor to ''take back'' the Kashi Vishwanath Temple premises by the saffron outfits after the favourable decision of the apex court in the Ram Temple case in Ayodhya.

The Hindu petitioners contended that a part of the temple had been demolished by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century. The Muslim side contended that the Mosque existed before the reign of Aurangzeb and also claimed that the same had also been mentioned in the land records.