Gyanvapi mosque case: ASI survey to resume after Friday prayers

The Varanasi district administration has made elaborate arrangements at the Gyanvapai mosque complex for Friday prayers in anticipation of greater traffic during the ongoing Archaeological study of India (ASI) study.

According to officials, the ASI survey, which began at 7 a.m. on Friday with a team of 40 professionals, has been paused for lunch and will resume after 02.30 p.m.

“The scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex started at 7 am today by a team of 40 experts. Photography and videography are being done,” Sudhir Tripathi, lawyer of the Hindu side, who was present inside Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque complex during the ASI survey.

“The survey will resume post-lunch. This survey will continue for a long time,” he said.

Earlier in the day, an ASI team arrived at the Gyanvapi mosque premises in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, near to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and began a scientific study of the compound amid heavy security.

The Archaeological Survey of India was allowed to perform a survey at the Gyanvapi mosque on Thursday, as the Allahabad High Court dismissed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s petition opposing the survey of the complex, which is close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had appealed the July 21 judgment of the Varanasi District Judge. following July 21, Varanasi district judge AK Vishvesha ordered an ASI survey of the Gyanvapi complex following an application filed on May 16, 2023 by four Hindu ladies.