According to Vishnu Shankar Jain, the advocate for the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi Masjid case, the ASI has discovered remnants of a sizable Hindu temple inside the mosque. Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), claimed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report on Thursday. The petitioner, who is from Hindi, claimed that a sizable Hindu temple predated the building of the Gyanvapi Masjid, which is situated next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. They cited the report as a mockery of scientific study based purely on speculation.
Owaisi stated, “this wouldn’t stand educational examination before any set of seasoned archaeologists or historians” in a post on X (previously Twitter). The report trivializes scientific research and is based purely on speculation. A disgusting academic once stated, “ASI is the handmaiden of Hindutva.” According to Vishnu Shankar Jain, the remnants of a sizable Hindu temple were inside the mosque on Thursday. Minutes after the 839-page report was provided to the Muslim and Hindu sides, Jain also made it public, despite the court’s order prohibiting either from disclosing the report’s specifics to the public.
The report stated that it is possible to conclude that there was a Hindu temple before the current building was built based on scientific studies and surveys, examination of architectural remnants, exposed features and artifacts, inscriptions, artwork, and sculptures.
The report went on to say that Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor, was responsible for the temple’s destruction. An Arabic-Persian inscription discovered within a room states that the mosque was constructed during Aurangzeb’s 20th regal year. According to the report, part of the pre-existing structure was altered and reused in the current structure, and it appears that it was destroyed during Aurangzeb’s reign in the 17th century.
It went on to say that the mosque was constructed using repurposed bell-adorned pillars, lamp niches, and temple inscriptions. The ASI report stated that this pre-existing framework can be recognized as a Hindu temple based on art and architecture. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Group, in charge of overseeing the Gyanvapi mosque, declared that it had not yet had a chance to review the ASI report. The Gyanvapi dispute goes back many years, but in August 2021, five women petitioned a local court, requesting the freedom to worship the Maa Gauri Sthal, which is inside the complex that contains Hindu god idols, without interference.
The controversial examination of the Gyanvapi mosque was conducted by the ASI following an order from the district council in July of last year to ascertain whether the mosque was built over a Hindu temple’s pre-existing structure. The Muslim side maintained that the structure discovered was a ceremonial ablution fountain, while the Hindu side claimed the 17th-century mosque was built over an earlier temple and that a shivling was discovered during the last hours of the exercise. The supreme court’s orders keep the area sealed.
