On Allowing Hindus To Pray In Gyanvapi Tehkhanas...
New Delhi: On Monday, 26 February, 2024, The Allahabad High Court will pronounce its verdict on a petition challenging the Varanasi court's decision to allow Hindu prayers in a Tehkhanas (cellar) of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The Varanasi district court had ordered on January 31 ruled that a priest can offer prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The order was delivered on the petition of Shailendra Kumar Pathak, who said his maternal grandfather Somnath Vyas offered prayers till December 1993 in the mosque.
Mr. Pathak had requested that, as a hereditary pujari, he be allowed to enter the tahkhana and resume his prayers.
The mosque has four 'tehkhanas' (cellars) in the basement, and one of them is with the Vyas family right now.
The Varanasi district court order came a day after an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report on the mosque complex was made public.
The ASI survey, ordered by the same court, in connection with a related case, suggested that the mosque was constructed during Aurangzeb's rule over the remains of a Hindu temple.
The Allahabad High Court had reserved its order after hearing both parties on February 15.
The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.