There will be no survey of the entire complex of Gnanavapi in Varanasi. The fast-track court on Friday dismissed the Hindu party's petition.
The Hindu party claimed that there is a 100 feet Shivling under the main dome. In such a case the entire complex should be excavated and surveyed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Hindu party lawyer Jaishankar Rastogi said that now we will go to the High Court in this matter. Lawyer Madan Mohan said that the demand of Vaju Khana and ASI survey is already pending in the High Court. The district court could not pass any order against it. Perhaps that is why this application has been rejected.
A 33-year-old case The fast track court gave its judgment on the petition filed in 1991. 33 years ago Somnath Vyas on behalf of Swayambhu Vishweshwar Jyotirlinga, Dr. Ramrang Sharma and Harihar Nath Pandey demanded an ASI survey of the entire complex. However, all three have died. Now the plaintiff advocate is Vijay Shankar Rastogi.
Court order has sealed the Vajukhana in Gnanawapi.
The Muslim side said that the mosque could be damaged by digging The hearing on the petition seeking a survey of the entire complex continued for 8 months in the fast track court. Meanwhile, the lawyers of the Muslim side argued that there is no reason to conduct a second survey when the Gnanawapi complex has already been surveyed once before by ASI. It is by no means practical to dig a pit in the mosque premises for surveying. Due to which the mosque may be damaged.
Advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi of the Hindu party opposed the arguments of the Muslim party. He said that the ASI did not inspect the pond and the Shivling found in the premises during the commission's proceedings. There is no mention of this in the report either.
The argument stated that proper machines were not used in the survey and fossils were not found by excavating the site. Apart from this, a large area of the campus has remained untouched by the survey. There is likely to be a lot of evidence in this.
From 1991 till now, understand the whole story of Gnanavapi…
- The Gnanawapi controversy has been in the headlines many times since independence. The Hindu party claims that the Gnanavapi complex is a part of the Kashi Vishwanath temple complex. There have been several lawsuits regarding this matter, but they have not reached any conclusion. The controversy first hit national headlines in 1991.
- After that, 3 people including Pandit Somnath Vyas of Varanasi filed a case in court. In which he said that Gnanavapi is a part of Kashi Vishwanath Complex. The petition appealed to the court to grant permission for regular Sanatani Dharma darshan, worship and other activities in Gnanavapi.
- In this case, the court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey. However, the Muslim party reached the High Court on this order of the Varanasi court. The High Court stayed the survey. Since then the case has not come up on the floor.
In 2021, 5 women applied for Gnanawapi
- Rakhi Singh, a resident of Delhi, and Lakshmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak, residents of Banaras, filed the petition in the court of the Civil Judge, Senior Division, Varanasi on 18 August 2021.
- It was said that the Gnanavapi complex housed Hindu gods and goddesses. In such a situation, regular darshan and worship of Ma Sringar Gauri should be allowed in the Gnanavapi premises. Along with this, the petition also asked that a survey be conducted to clarify the situation for the safety of other gods and goddesses located in the complex.
- The temple of Maa Sringar Gauri is at the back of Gnanavapi. Before 1992, regular darshan and pooja were held here. But, later it was stopped due to security and other reasons. At present, once a year on the day of Chaitra Navratri, darshan and worship of Sringar Gauri is allowed.
- The Muslim side has no objection to the darshan and worship of Sringar Gauri. His protest is against the survey and videography of the entire campus.
The court ordered a survey on this application
- Hearings and arguments on the petition of 5 women went on for about eight months. On April 26, the court ordered a survey of the Gnanawapi complex. For this, the court itself appointed an advocate commissioner. When the survey team arrived for the survey on May 6-7, there was commotion and protests.
- After this, both parties went to court again. The Muslim party demanded the transfer of the Advocate Commissioner. The Hindu party demanded videography of the entire complex, including the basements. Both again listened to both sides for three days. After this, the court gave its final verdict on conducting ASI survey on May 12.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
