Varanasi court orders scientific survey of Gyanvapi mosque

Varanasi: A Varanasi court on Friday ordered a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple here, according to government counsel Rajesh Mishra.

The barricaded ‘wazukhana’, where a structure claimed by Hindu litigants to be a ‘shivling’ exists, will not be part of the survey.

The court of A K Vishvesh upheld the petition of a group of Hindu devotees seeking a scientific survey to determine if the mosque was built at the site of a Hindu temple.

The court had on July 14 reserved its order after hearing both Hindu and Muslim sides.

The petition filed by the Hindu group had sought a direction to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to survey the entire Gyanvapi mosque complex.

The Muslims side had opposed the plea, saying an ASI survey could damage the complex.