The Gyanvapi Mosque complex as seen from the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: A Varanasi court on Friday rejected a plea by the Hindu side to stop ‘namaz’ (prayer) on the roof of the Gyanvapi Mosque’s ‘tehkhana’ (cellar).
Civil Judge senior division Hitesh Agarwal, while rejecting the application filed by Rakhee Singh and others, also declined a plea to allow the district magistrate of Varanasi to undertake any kind of repair works at the cellar. The court, however, said that ‘puja’ would continue in the cellar.
The court had earlier reserved its ruling in the matter.
The Hindu side had moved the court seeking a ban on the entry of the Muslims on the roof of the cellar contending that it was too weak to withstand the weight of so many people. Muslim offer prayers on the roof of the cellar.
The Hindu side had also sought permission to undertake repair works in the cellar stating that it was very old and that there was leakage of water from its roof.
The Muslim side, however, opposed the plea and contended that the Muslims had been offering prayers on the roof of the cellar for many years.
A Varanasi court had, in January this year, allowed the Hindus to perform ‘puja’ at the 'tehkhana' (basement), popularly known as 'Vyasji ka Tehkhana'. The 'puja' began there after a gap of almost 30 years.
The 'tehkhana' was situated beneath the Gyanvapi Mosque on its south side and Shailendra Pathak Vyas, on whose petition the Varanasi court had passed the order, had contended that his family had been performing 'puja' there since the British period.
He had also claimed that his father Somenath Vyas used to perform 'puja' there till October 1993 after which the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government erected a barricade there and barred his entry.
It was claimed that there were four 'tehkhanas' in the Gyanvapi Mosque one of which was under the possession of Somenath.