Uttar Pradesh: The Varanasi Court on Wednesday granted permission to the Hindu side petitioners to perform puja in the basement of the Gyanvapi mosque premises.
The said basement was cleaned during the scientific survey of the mosque premises by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2023.
Shailendra Kumar Pathak, maternal grandson of Somnath Vyas, had sought the right to worship deities there.
Shailendra Kumar Pathak’s plea seeking the right to worship at the disputed site was heard by the Varanasi district court yesterday and the judgment was pronounced today.
Citing the Places of Worship Act, the Muslim side had demanded the dismissal of the plea. However, the court granted permission to worship at the cellars which have been under district administration’s control since 17 January.
The decision comes after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) found 55 Hindu deity stone sculptures including 15 “Shiva linga”, three sculptures of “Vishnu”, three of “Ganesha”, two of “Nandi”, two of “Krishna”, and five of “Hanuman”, in its scientific study of the site.
Earlier, the Wazukhana area of the Gyanvapi complex was done under strict security measures on the Supreme Court’s order. It’s the Wazukhana area only where the ‘Shivling’ was discovered according to the Hindu side.
