Varanasi District Court Allows Prayers in Gyanvapi Mosque’s Southern Cellar

In a recent development, the Varanasi District Court has granted permission for prayers to be conducted in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The order, issued by District Judge A K Vishvesha, directs the District Magistrate of Varanasi to facilitate puja (prayers) in the disputed western cellar. The prayers are to be performed by a priest appointed by both the Kashi Vishwanath Trust and the plaintiffs involved in the case.

The court’s decision follows the Varanasi district administration’s takeover of the southern cellar on January 24, complying with the court’s earlier order from January 17. In the case filed by the head priest of Acharya Ved Vyas Peeth temple, Shailendra Kumar Pathak, the district magistrate of Varanasi was appointed as the receiver of the southern cellar.

The District court order comes in the wake of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey report on the Gyanvapi mosque complex, which was made public six days earlier. The ASI, tasked with determining whether the mosque was constructed over a pre-existing Hindu temple, concluded that a temple “appears to have been destroyed in the 17th century, during the reign of Aurangzeb, and part of it… modified and reused in the existing structure.”

Hindu litigants assert that the mosque was built on the site of the original Kashi Vishwanath temple after its destruction in the 17th century. The court’s decision to allow prayers in the disputed area is likely to have implications and may spark further discussions and legal proceedings related to the historical and religious significance of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.