Citing ASI report, VHP asks Muslim side to hand over Gyanvapi structure to Hindus

Two days after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey report on the Gyanvapi mosque complex was made public, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday demanded that the structure be declared as a Hindu temple and urged the Muslim side to hand it over.

On Thursday, Vishnu Shankar Jain, who represents the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath case, said that the ASI survey suggests the mosque was built on the remains of a pre-existing temple.

He said the mosque was built in the 17th century after Aurangzeb demolished a grand Hindu temple. Citing the report, Jain also claimed the debris of the statues of Hindu gods was found in two basements during the survey.

The Muslim petitioners in the decades-old case, however, said that the survey report by the ASI is not a final verdict.

On Saturday, the VHP demanded that Hindus be permitted to offer "sewa puja" to the 'Shivlinga' found in the "so-called Wazukhana area" at 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," VHP working president Alok Kumar said in a statement. "Thus, even as per Section 4 of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, the structure should be declared as a Hindu temple."

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The VHP also called upon the Intezamia Committee, the caretaker of 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. “…Hand over the Gyanvapi structure to Hindus.”

The Gyanvapi dispute dates back decades but in August 2021, five women filed a petition in a local court demanding the right of unhindered worship at the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal, located inside the complex that houses idols of Hindu gods.

In April 2022, the local court ordered a controversial survey of the complex, which quickly ran into protests. The survey was finally completed in May of that year, but not before the Hindu side claimed that the Shivling was found in the final hours of the exercise even as the Muslim side disputed this. The court clamped security on the entire complex and ordered to seal the wazukhana area inside the mosque complex, even as the Muslim side argued that the structure found was a ceremonial ablution fountain.

Then, last year, the Varanasi district court ordered an extensive survey of the mosque by ASI to ascertain whether it was built over a pre-existing temple, while holding that a scientific probe was necessary for the truth to come out. The judge, however, excluded the section over which a dispute had arisen, which remains sealed.

ASI report on Gyanvapi mosque complex

The report by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has said that a large Hindu temple existed before the construction of the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi.

“Based on scientific studies/survey carried out, study of architectural remains, exposed features and artefacts, inscriptions, art and sculptures, it can be said that there existed a Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing structure,” the report said.

Explained: Decoding ASI’s Gyanvapi mosque survey report

The report further suggested that the temple was destroyed during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. “The Arabic-Persian inscription found inside a room mentions that the mosque was built in the 20th regnal year of Aurangzeb …hence, the pre-existing structure appears to have been destroyed in the 17th century, during the reign of Aurangzeb, and part of it was modified and reused in the existing structure,” the report said.

It further said that pillars decorated with bells, niches for keeping lamps, and inscriptions of the temple were reused to build the mosque.

“Based on art and architecture, this pre-existing structure can be identified as a Hindu temple,” the ASI report said.