The Hindu side in the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque case petitioned a court in Varanasi on Wednesday to allow the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a deeper excavation of the premises. The request, submitted by lawyer Madan Mohan Yadav, seeks to survey the remaining parts of the Gyanvapi complex to investigate historical claims surrounding the site.
According to Yadav, the Hindu side argues that the original Jyotirlinga resides beneath the dome of the mosque. They also cited a belief that water once flowed from the ‘Argha’ into the Gyanvapi Kund, historically regarded as sacred and known as ‘Gyanoday Tirth’, or the “Pilgrimage of Knowledge”.
Civil Judge Senior Division Jugal Shambhu, presiding over the fast-track court, heard the Hindu side’s arguments and set the next hearing date for September 18, when the Muslim side is expected to present their counterarguments.
The lawyers of the Hindu side in the previous hearings have demanded that this water be explored by water engineering, geologists and archeologists.
Also, the ‘Shivling’ found from Gyanoday Tirth, which the Muslim side is calling a ‘wuzukhana’, should also be examined to see whether it is a ‘Shivling’ or a fountain, Yadav added.