On the 24th of July 2023, the third Monday of the holy Hindu month of Shravan, a scientific survey of the disputed structure called Gyanvapi mosque began at 7 AM. A 30-member team of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) arrived at the site early on Monday morning amid a large crowd of devotees gathered for darshan and amid heavy police presence.
#WATCH | Varanasi, UP: ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) to conduct survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex today
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) July 24, 2023
Visuals from outside the Gyanvapi premises pic.twitter.com/SXTKYcVXO1
30 to 32 members from the Hindu side and the ASI including 4 women plaintiffs and their lawyers are on site with the required equipment. The ASI team has been divided into four parts and is working in different areas of the premises. A Varanasi court on 21st July ordered an ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, excluding the “wazukhana” area which is sealed.
Asi survey to be conducted from 7 am on 25.07.23 at Gyanvapi complex. Har har mahadev
— Vishnu Shankar Jain (@Vishnu_Jain1) July 23, 2023
Sohan Lal Arya, petitioner in the Gyanvapi case said this survey is the solution for the Gyanvapi issue. “This is a very glorious moment for us for the Hindu community & crores of Hindus…survey is the only possible solution to this Gyanvapi issue,” he said.
#WATCH | "This is a very glorious moment for us for the Hindu community & crores of Hindus…survey is the only possible solution to this Gyanvapi issue": Sohan Lal Arya, petitioner in the Gyanvapi mosque case https://t.co/QgylqUpCC0 pic.twitter.com/BlgWbSsVZO
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) July 24, 2023
One of the women petitioners in the case said today is the day when our faith will be supported by science. “It’s a historic day. Science will also unite with our faith today,” says Sita Sahu, one of the Hindu women petitioners in the Gyanvapi case.
VIDEO | "It's a historic day. Science will also unite with our faith today," says Sita Sahu, one of the Hindu women petitioners in the Gyanvapi case. pic.twitter.com/ioPAO5nB4H
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 24, 2023
The survey began with videography after cleaning the premises. The ASI team began the survey with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) which uses radar pulses to scan the upper surface. The Western wall is also being surveyed. The ASI is expected to submit the report by 4th August.
Meanwhile, the Gyanvapi Masjid Committee moved Supreme Court on 23rd July against the survey seeking an urgent listing. The case will be presented before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud today. On May 22, Gyanvapi Mosque Committee (Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee) submitted an application before the Varanasi Court opposing a plea filed by Hindu Worshippers seeking a complete survey of the disputed structure. The committee has reportedly boycotted the survey
The court on 21st July pronounced its order on a petition filed by the Hindu side seeking direction for a scientific survey of the entire Gyanvapi premises where the disputed structure stands by the ASI. A petition was filed in May this year by five women who had earlier sought permission to pray at the Shringar Gauri Sthal inside the shrine complex.
In its application, the Mosque Committee made some bizarre claims to whitewash the atrocities of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. They claimed Aurangzeb was not cruel. Furthermore, they said he did not demolish any Lord Adi Vishweshar Temple in Varanasi.
In May last year, the claims of the existence of a Hindu temple underneath the disputed Gyanvapi structure were attested after videos and photos surfaced online show Shivling inside the wuzukhana of the mosque, along with the motifs of Swastika, Trishul, Lotus and Hindu deities engraved on the walls of the basement.
