A Varanasi court on Thursday ordered that the video survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple be resumed and a report submitted by May 17.
The Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to put a stay on the survey of the Mosque complex.
The apex court however, refused to stop the Gyanvapi Mosque survey.
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The bench, however, refused to grant status quo in the case, saying that it was not aware of what the issue was as it had not seen the papers.
“We have not seen the papers. We don’t even know what is the matter. I don’t know anything… how can I pass an order. I will read and then pass orders… let me see,” said the CJI.
Gyanvapi Mosque
The Gyanvapi Mosque is believed to have been built in 1669 during the reign of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who is said to have ordered the demolition of the existing Vishweshwar temple and its replacement by a mosque.
The plinth of the temple was left untouched, and served as the courtyard of the mosque. One of the walls too was spared, and it became the qibla wall, the most ornate and important wall in a mosque that faces Mecca.
An old sculpture of the Nandi bull inside the compound of the present Kashi Vishwanath Temple faces the wall of the mosque instead of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
It is believed that Nandi is in fact, facing the sanctum sanctorum of the original Vishweshwar temple.
The name of the mosque is said to have derived from an adjoining well, the Gyanvapi, or Well of Knowledge.
Controversy
The controversy erupted in 1991 when a group of local priests sought permission to worship in the Gyanvapi complex, claiming the mosque was built on a demolished portion of Kashi Vishwanath Temple by Aurangzeb in the 17th century.
The matter was reignited after petitioners demanded an archaeological survey of the Gyanvapi complex, in 2019.’
The Allahabad High Court stayed the archaeological study of the Gyanvapi complex being done by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).
The court had ordered the inspection last month on a petition by five Hindu women seeking round-the-year access to pray at “a shrine behind the western wall of the mosque complex”, but the exercise had been halted after allegations of bias were made against the official in charge.
The site is currently opened for Hindu prayers once a year — on the fourth day of the chaitra navratri in April. The petitioners have also sought permission to pray to other “visible and invisible deities within the old temple complex”.
A videography survey of the mosque ordered by Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar on the plea of some women petitioners who seek to perform worship of Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman and Nandi idols, said to be located on the walls of the mosque.
They had also asked the court to stop the opponents from causing damage to the said idols.
The counsel from the Muslim side had argued that the court had not allowed videography inside the mosque but only outside the barricades till the courtyard.
The videography concluded amid sloganeering from both Hindu and Muslim sides did not return any significant result.
The Muslim side alleged bias from the side of the court-appointed commissioner of the survey, Ajay Kumar Mishra, alleging he tried to do videography from inside the mosque against court permissions.
The side also called videography inside the mosque, a violation of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation intend to move Supreme Court over the same
The court has said that court commissioner Mishra, accused of biased conduct will not be changed and two more commissioners will join the archaeological survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The basement will be opened as per the directions of the court. The survey is to be completed and the report is to be submitted by May 17.