The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Varanasi): Following the Varanasi district court’s decision to allow Hindus to hold prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque, Nagendra Pandey, the chair of the Kashi Vishwanath Trust, has proposed renaming ‘Vyas Ji Ka Tehkana’ to ‘tal grih’ or ‘tal ghar’. Pandey expressed that these names are pious and suitable.
The Masjid Intezamia Committee of Gyanvapi mosque had filed a revision petition in the Allahabad High Court against the Varanasi court’s order, seeking a stay on it. They argued that the maintainability of the suit under Order 7, Rule 11 had not been decided, and the order allowing Hindus to pray in the disputed area was incorrect.
Shailendra Pathak from the temple side filed a caveat, requesting that the Hindu side be heard before the petition is taken up.
On January 31, the Varanasi district court allowed the Hindu side to offer prayers in the southern cellar of Gyanvapi mosque. The court directed the Varanasi district magistrate to make arrangements within seven days for ‘puja’ to be performed by the Hindu side and a pujari (priest) nominated by Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust. Subsequently, “puja” and “aarti” were conducted in the cellar.
The district court’s decision is based on a plea by the head priest of Acharya Ved Vyas Peeth temple, Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas, who sought worship of Shringar Gauri and other deities in the mosque’s cellar. Vyas’s maternal grandfather used to perform prayers there until 1993 when the cellar was closed by the authorities.
The ASI survey, ordered by the same court, suggested that the mosque was constructed during Aurangzeb’s rule over the remains of a Hindu temple.