Gyanvapi survey complete, report to be submitted to court on September 2

The scientific survey of the contentious Gyanvapi Mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which had started on August 4, was completed on Friday.

The report of the ASI survey would be submitted to the district court in Varanasi on Saturday.

The 29-day long scientific survey saw the ASI team using 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 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 ASI.

The survey triggered a few controversies also, especially when the Muslim representatives threatened to boycott the same if, what they termed, the 'rumours' that remains of idols were found inside the Mosque, were not checked.

Lawyer for the Muslim petitioners, Mumtaz Ahmed, accused a section of the media of ''spreading rumours'' that ''idols, trident and pitcher'' had been found in the cellar of the Mosque during the ASI survey.

The district court later banned the media from airing or publishing news about the survey work.

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. 

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.