Gyanvapi Mosque survey enters secondary stage with machines
What's the story
A 55-member team of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) resumed the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi on Sunday to determine if the 17th-century mosque has been built over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.
Heavy security had been deployed in the area before the survey resumed to ensure law and order, said reports.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Gyanvapi Mosque is one of the several mosques that Hindu right-wing groups claim were previously temples that Muslim invaders destroyed.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fomented the issue after its formation in the 1980s and 1990s by touting it as a reclamation project for Hindus.
However, several renowned Hindu priests have allegedly rejected the Hindu litigants' claims accusing them of stoking communal tensions.
Survey
DGPS used for survey, GPR to be used later
The lawyers representing the Hindu side in the case said the survey was in its secondary stage as the primary stage had been completed, Hindustan Times reported.
They said the ASI team is using machines, including radars, to conduct the survey, adding that the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) was used on Saturday, and the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) will also be used later.
Information
Survey to be conducted under domes
The survey was reportedly halted for two hours on Sunday afternoon for Muslim devotees to offer prayers in the mosque. A survey was to be conducted under the domes on Sunday after the southern basement of the mosque complex was surveyed on Saturday, said reports.
Wazukhana
Wazukhana exempt from survey
The lawyers said the current survey is different from the one conducted by the advocate commissioner in May 2022.
During the videographic survey conducted last year, the surveyors stumbled upon an object in the wazukhana where devotees perform their ablutions before namaz.
The Hindu side claimed it to be a "Shivling" while the mosque management committee said it was part of a fountain.
Shivling
Claim of Shivling at mosque false: Kashi Vishwanath Temple's priest
The Hindu litigants earlier sought carbon dating of the disputed object. However, the Supreme Court deferred their appeal.
Rajendra Prasad Tiwari—a priest of Kashi Vishwanath Temple adjacent to Gyanvapi Mosque—previously rejected Hindu plaintiffs' claim that the object is the original Vishweshwar Shivling. He said his forefathers installed the Shivling at Kashi Vishwanath Temple after fleeing from Aurangzeb, who destroyed the erstwhile temple in 1669.