Gyanvapi Mosque Survey Begins In Varanasi

The report will come on August 4…

On Monday, 24 July 2023, an Archaeological Survey Team of India (ASI) started a "scientific survey" of Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque.

Earlier, the mosque management committee filed a petition in the Supreme Court as well against the Varanasi district court's order allowing the inspection.

The survey began at 7 am and will extend to all areas except the sealed "wuzukhana" where a structure that Hindu litigants claimed to be a 'Shivling' was found during an earlier survey in 2022.

The survey team has to submit the report to the district court by August 4, 2023.

The inspection is being carried out following an order by the Varanasi district court on Friday.

The order was passed based on a case filed by four women worshippers who claim the Gyanvapi mosque was built after destroying an ancient Hindu temple and that a scientific study is needed to bring out the full facts.

While passing the order, the court held that the scientific investigation is "essential" for the "true facts" to come out.

The same petitioners had filed the 2021 petition in the Gyanvapi matter, asking for year-long access to the "Shringar Gauri" shrine inside the mosque.