Gyanvapi mosque, Kashi Vishwanath temple
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The dispute
As in 2021 April
From: Binay Singh, April 9, 2021: The Times of India
Uttar Pradesh: ASI probe ordered into Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanwapi mosque dispute
Binay Singh| TNN | Updated: Apr 8, 2021, 23:26 IST
The judge asked the Uttar Pradesh government to get examined the disputed premises by a five-member team of the Archaeological Survey of India. (File Photo)
1991- 2020
In 1991, the first petition was filed in Varanasi civil seeking permission for worship in Gyanvapi. The petitioner had contended that Kashi Vishwanath Temple was built by Maharaja Vikramaditya about 2,050 years ago, but Mughal emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the temple in 1664 and used its remains to construct a mosque, which is known as Gyanvapi masjid, on a portion of the temple land.
In 1998, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee moved the high court contending the mandir-masjid dispute could not be adjudicated by a civil court as it was barred by law. The high court then stayed the proceedings in lower court . In February 2020, the petitioners approached the lower court again to resume hearing as the HC had not extended the stay in the preceding six month
Advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi, as the ‘next friend’ of Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar, had filed an application in the court of civil judge in December 2019, requesting for survey of the entire Gyanvapi compound by the ASI. He also demanded the restoration of the land on which the mosque stood to the Hindus claiming that Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had pulled down parts of the old Kashi Vishwanath Temple to build it.
In January 2020, defendant Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee filed an objection against the petition.
The petitioner had requested the court to issue directions for removal of the mosque from temple land and give back its possession to the temple trust. The petition contended that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act was not applicable on the suit as the mosque was constructed over a partly demolished temple and many parts of the temple exist even today.
2021
VARANASI: A local court of civil judge on Thursday allowed a survey of entire Gyanvapi mosque complex, adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, by the Archaeological Survey of India to find out 'whether the religious structure standing at the present and disputed site is a superimposition, alteration or addition, or there is structural overlapping of any kind.
In its order, the court of civil judge (senior division), fast track, Ashutosh Tiwai, directed the ASI director general to constitute a five-member committee of eminent persons who are experts and well-versed in the science of archaeology, two of which should preferably belong to the minority community.
The committee shall trace whether any temple belonging to the Hindu community ever existed before the mosque in question was built or superimposed or added upon it at the disputed site, the order said.
In its order, the court also directed the DG to appoint an eminent and highly experienced person, who can be regarded as expert in the science of archaeology, to act as observer.
“Such person should preferably be a scholarly personality and established academician of any central university,” it said.
The five-member committee shall submit a report of its survey work to the observer on a daily basis.
The court further said the committee shall prepare comprehensive documentation along with the drawing, plan, elevation, site map with precise breadth and width of the disputed site, marked with hatched lines in the plaint map.
“The purpose of the archaeological survey shall be to find out as to whether the religious structure standing at the present and disputed site is a superimposition, alteration or addition or there is structural overlapping of any kind. If so, then what exactly is the age, size, monumental and architectural design or style of the religious structure, and what material has been used for building the same,” the court said.
For that purpose, the committee shall be entitled to enter into every portion of the religious structure, the order said.
The committee shall firstly resort to Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) or Geo-Radiology System or both to satisfy itself as to whether any excavation or extraction work is needed in any portion. The excavation should be done by trial trench method vertically on a very small scale, and horizontal excavation shall be done only when the committee is fully satisfied of being able to reach a more concrete conclusion regarding the archaeological remains below the ground.
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2021: Hindus, Muslims exchange land for Dham
Binay Singh, July 24, 2021: The Times of India
Just before the beginning of the holy month of Shravan, Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust (SKVTT) and the administration of the adjacent Gyanvapi mosque have entered a deal to exchange lands to facilitate the construction of the proposed Kashi Vishwanath Dham.
While the Gyanvapi adminitration is giving a piece of land measuring 1,700 squarefeet, for the development of Kashi Vishwanath Dham (corridor), the temple administration has given a piece of land measuring 1,000 square-feet to the Muslim community. The deal between the two parties was finalised on July 9.
However, the dispute between Kashi Vishwanath Temple (KVT) and Gyanvapi mosque regarding the survey of the entire premises by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to find out whether a temple existed in place of the mosque is still in the court.
The exchange deal was signed by chief executive officer (CEO) of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, Sunil Kumar Verma, on behalf of the UP governor and Abdul Batin Nomani of the Anjuman Intezamiya Masajid, the management committee of the mosque.
Talking to TOI on Friday, divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal said, “The property given by the Muslim side was owned by the Waqf Board and the Gyanvapi-KVT control room was situated on this land. Since the land was needed for the development of Kashi Vishwanath Dham, we offered a piece of land to them (Muslim community).”
Kashi Vishwanath Corridor
From: Rajeev Dikshit, Lost and found: Varanasi temple route gets longer, November 28, 2018: The Times of India
In April, when hundreds of houses were demolished in Varanasi to build a corridor between Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Ganga ghats, both the administration and experts had not expected to come upon a trove of architectural marvels so rich. Seven months into the project, so many 18th century temples — several in immaculate condition — have been found in the bylanes of the holy city that the authorities are now planning to throw them open for worship once again.
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has already identified 43 of them for prayer and preservation. These will be made part of the larger Kashi Vishwanath pilgrimage route.
The finds have been considered so valuable that the detailed project report of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor (KVC) project has been amended to include these temples. “Our team is preparing a list of these structures with their architectural details in order to finalise a conservation plan,” said Niraj Sinha, in-charge of ASI’s Varanasi office. After a conservation plan is finalised, the temples will be opened for the public to conduct rituals and worship, a senior Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust official said.
Work on the KVC project had begun earlier this year. The biggest hurdles for the corridor were the houses on the narrow lanes leading from the temple to the river. Approximately 296 private residences and commercial buildings were identified for demolition.
While a few old temples were found in the first round of the demolition drive, their number surged in the second round, which started in November. Most of these have been identified as 18th century temples. Inside dingy houses, buried under layers of concrete and plaster are beautiful brick and stone temples. One of the temples had been covered up for a house and had a toilet built on top of its ‘shikhara’ (pinnacle).
