A Varanasi court has scheduled a hearing for February 15 regarding a petition urging the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey of all closed basements within the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
The petitioner, Rakhi Singh, a founding member of Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh and a party in the Maa Shringar Gauri case, highlighted the presence of "secret cellars" and emphasised the importance of surveying them to unveil the complete truth about the Gyanvapi mosque.
Acting District Judge Anil Kumar set the next hearing date, as confirmed by lawyer Madan Mohan Yadav. The petition has been submitted by Singh through Advocate Saurabh Tiwary.
Singh, also known as plaintiff no. 1 in the Shringar Gauri Worshipping suit 2022 pending before the Varanasi Court, argued that surveying the remaining cellars is crucial to ascertain the religious character of the Gyanvapi premises.
Singh's application highlighted the existence of cellars numbered N1 to N5 in the north and S1 to S3 in the south within the Gyanvapi premises. She noted that cellars N1 and S1 remain inaccessible due to blocked entrances.
Referring to the recent ASI report on the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque, Singh underscored the lack of information about the dimensions and inner arrangement of cellar N1, as its entrances are blocked. She urged the court to direct the ASI to survey the cellars without causing any damage to the structure.
Singh's plea also emphasised the need for the ASI to survey all closed cellars within the Gyanvapi mosque complex, situated adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Her advocate, Anupam Dwivedi, reiterated the importance of this survey.
Notably, last week, the District judge permitted the regular worship of Hindu deities in the southern cellar of Varanasi's Gyanvapi Masjid by a family of priests who used to perform rituals there before 1993. Subsequently, District Magistrate MS Rajalingam, accompanied by government officials, entered the mosque complex through gate number 4 of the Kashi Corridor for an inspection that lasted around two hours.
Following the inspection, the basement, or "tehkhana," was unlocked, allowing regular worship to commence in the area. Devotees were seen congregating outside 'Vyas Ji ka Tahkhana.'
Hindu litigants claim that a temple was destroyed during Aurangzeb's rule to build the Gyanvapi mosque. The recent ASI survey also suggested the mosque was built on the remains of a pre-existing temple.
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