ASI says there was a Hindu temple before Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi

In a development regarding the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report has claimed that there had existed a Hindu temple beneath the mosque's structure. The report, submitted to the Varanasi district court in December and was recently made available to litigants.

According to the ASI survey, conducted in response to a petition by Hindu litigants seeking permission to hold prayers within the mosque compound, the pre-existing temple was said to have been demolished during the 17th century, during the reign of Aurangzeb.

Parts of the original temple were purportedly repurposed in the construction of the mosque, with pillars, pilasters, and other architectural elements reused with minimal modifications.

The survey is said to have dug out architectural elements, including sculptures of Hindu deities and ornate architectural members, discovered buried within the premises. The report suggests that the western wall of the mosque retains characteristics indicative of its origins as part of a Hindu temple.

This revelation comes amid ongoing legal disputes surrounding the Gyanvapi Mosque, with Hindu litigants contending for access to the premises for religious purposes. The district court's decision to order the ASI survey follows a series of legal manoeuvres, including a directive by the Allahabad High Court in May to conduct a scientific examination of an oval-shaped object discovered within the mosque complex.

The object in question, initially found during a previous survey in May 2022, has been a focal point of contention, with Hindu claimants asserting it to be a shivling, a sacred representation of the Hindu deity Shiva. In contrast, the mosque's caretaker committee maintains it is a defunct fountainhead located within the ablution tank.