The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team on Sunday continued its scientific survey work for the third consecutive day at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. A team from the Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, also joined the ASI team amid threats by the mosque panel that it would boycott the entire exercise if ‘rumours’ are spread through media that Hindu religious symbols and objects have been found.
Earlier, a counsel for the Hindu side had claimed that a few pieces of idols and remains of the ancient temple were found during the 3D imaging, framing, and scanning inside the Gyanvapi basement, besides some remains of an ancient temple, with the Muslim side rubbishing the claims.
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The survey team conducted assessment of the basement and all the three tombs doing measurement, mapping and photography work during the third day of the exercise. The survey continued amid tight security after the Supreme Court upheld the Allahabad High Court order that the proposed survey will benefit both sides. No media persons were allowed around the premises.
The ASI survey was requested by women plaintiffs seeking the worship of Shringar Gauri and other deities in the Gyanvapi compound. The district judge had ordered an ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque on July 21, instructing the agency to submit its report by August 4. Later the court on Saturday granted the ASI four weeks’ time to submit the report when the government counsel sought time for the agency to conduct the survey, arguing that after the July 21 order, the exercise was halted due to a directive from the apex court.
