The ASI survey report on the Gyanvapi complex has suggested that the mosque was built on the remains of a pre-existing temple.

Gyanvapi Mosque Issue: After the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report on the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh was made public by the order of the Varanasi court, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday claimed that the ASI survey report has “reconfirmed” that the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi was constructed after demolishing a “magnificent temple” at the site. The VHP demanded that the structure be declared a Hindu temple and handed over to the Hindu community.

The ASI survey report on the Gyanvapi complex has suggested that the “mosque was built on the remains of a pre-existing temple” while it is alleged that the Gyanvapi mosque was constructed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1669 after demolishing a Shiva temple.

The VHP has also demanded that Hindus be allowed to offer “sewa puja” to the “Shivlinga” found in the “so-called Wazukhana area” of the disputed site.

“The evidence collected and the conclusions provided by the ASI do prove that the religious character of this place of worship existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and as at present is of a Hindu Temple,” said Alok Kumar, the working president of the VHP in a statement.

“Hand over the Gyanvapi structure to Hindus,” Kumar said.

“Thus, even as per Section 4 of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, the structure should be declared as a Hindu temple,” he also demanded.

The VHP also called upon the Intezamia Committee that manages the mosque to agree to “respectfully shift” the Gyanvapi mosque to another appropriate place and to hand over the original site of Kashi Vishvanatha to the Hindu society.

“The VHP believes that this righteous action shall be an important step towards creating amicable relations between the two prominent communities of Bharat,” Kumar said as he claimed that the evidence collected by ASI “reconfirms that the mosque had been constructed after demolishing a magnificent temple”.

A part of the temple structure, particularly the western wall, is the remaining part of the Hindu temple, he further claimed adding that the ASI report also proves that parts of the pre-existing temple including pillars and pilasters were reused with modifications to extend the span of the mosque and in the construction of the “sahan”.

“The Shivalinga in what was called the ‘wazukhana’ leaves no doubt that the structure does not have the character of a mosque. The discovery of the names including the Janardana, Rudra, and Umeswara in the inscriptions found in the structure are the tell-tale evidence of this being a temple,” Kumar claimed.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the counsel for the Hindu side while talking to the media on Thursday said that the copies of the survey report consisting of 839 pages were made available to the parties concerned by the court late Thursday evening adding that the survey report makes it clear that the mosque was built on the remains of a pre-existing temple by demolishing it in the past.

The survey report has sufficient evidence of the existence of a temple over which the mosque was built, claimed Jain.

A total of 11 people, including from both the Hindu and the Muslim sides, earlier on Thursday applied in the court to get the ASI survey report on the Gyanvapi complex adjoining the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

On Wednesday, a Varanasi district court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to make its report on the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath Temple public and share the hard copies of the report with both sides. Notably, a few weeks earlier, the Supreme Court approved an application by Hindu women petitioners seeking to clean the entire area of ‘wazukhana’ of the Gyanvapi mosque.

Earlier, a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra had said that the area of ‘wazukhana’ shall be cleaned under the supervision of district administration Varanasi, having regard to the previous orders of the top court.

The Gyanvapi mosque management committee said it supports the cleaning of the water tank, which has remained sealed on the apex court’s orders for nearly two years. The area of ‘wazukhana’ was sealed in 2022 on a Supreme Court order after the discovery of what was said to be a ‘Shivling’.

(With agency inputs)