Saffron activist files plea in Varanasi court seeking scientific survey of all cellars in Gyanvapi mosque

Lucknow: A saffron activist on Monday filed a plea in the district court in Varanasi seeking a scientific survey of all the cellars in the contentions Gyanvapi mosque complex.

Petitioner Rakhi Singh in her application to the court contended that there were two more cellars in the Gyanvapi mosque which were closed and that a scientific survey was needed to find out what was in those cellars.

Incidentally, Rakhi Singh was also the petitioner in the Shringar Gauri case and the Varanasi court had in the matter ordered a scientific survey of the mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excluding the Wazukhana (the place where Muslims wash themselves before proceeding for prayers).

Singh contended in her petition that the 'secret cellars' had been sealed by placing stones on their doors. She further said in her plea that the cellars might contain proof indicating the existence of a temple there and an ASI survey was required to bring out the truth.

The plea was filed barely days after a Varanasi court allowed another plea seeking worshipping rights in one of the cellars.

After the court order, the cellar, known as Vyasji ka Tehkhana, was opened by the authorities. Rituals were performed there immediately and a large number of devotees have visited the cellar since its opening.

According to the Hindu side, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had demolished part of the Kashi Vishwanath temple, and the Gyanvapi mosque was built on that site. The Hindu plaintiffs also claimed that a Shivling was found inside the mosque complex during an ASI survey conducted there last year.

The Muslim side, however, refuted these claims.