Historic Moment at Gyanvapi! After 30 years,'Vyas Ji ka Tehkhana' echoed with हर-हर महादेव

With this chant,30 years after the Samajwadi Party illegally banned Hindus from performing Puja of their Bhagwan, now Hindus finally perform puja and offer prayers at 'Vyas Ji ka Tehkhana' inside Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. This comes hours after the district court ruled that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in a cellar of the Gyanvapi complex.

According to the details, the preparations for the puja had begun soon after the court's order, and the aarti on the premises was performed under heavy security.

 

Idols of deities recovered in the cellar, details of which have been mentioned in the recently published ASI report and were in the custody of the district administration, were placed inside the cellar for the puja. Earthen lamps were lit inside the cellar in the night, puja rituals were done, and at last, the Mangala Aarti was performed. The rituals ended at around 3 AM.

 

 

Confirming the same, Vishnu Shankar Jain wrote on X wrote, "The SG has complied with the orders of the court. Shayan arti is done by a pujari of KVM Trust after putting up idols. An Akhand Jyoti started in front of them. Daily Arti of all above deities- Morning Mangla Arti, Bhog Arti, evening arti, late sunset evening arti, Shayan arti."

Gyanvapi complex has four 'deckhands' (cellars) in the basement out of which the southern one is still in possession of the Vyas family who used to live there. This is called "Vyasji Ka Tehkhana". The place is right in front of Nandi Maharaj of Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The tehkhana has a height of around 7 feet and a carpet area of around 900 square feet

 

The generations of the family have been worshipping Goddess Shringar Gauri and other deities there since the 16th century.

However, in 1993, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav stopped the puja at the Vyas Ji ka Tehkhana, Gyanvapi complex. The move came soon after the disputed structure in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992. 

Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vya had petitioned that, as a maternal grandson of Somnath Vyas, he be allowed to enter the tehkhana and resume pooja. Vyas sought permission to enter the Tehkhana and resume pooja, expressing concerns that the mosque committee might attempt to take control of the cellar.

 

The AIMC's counsel, Akhlaque Ahmad, dismissed these allegations as baseless. The Hindu petitioners have filed multiple cases related to the Gyanvapi mosque, seeking prayer rights.

 

FOR MORE INFO:- Notably, the Vyas family had filed a separate plea in 1991, seeking the transfer of the Gyanvapi mosque structure to Hindus. They asserted that, except for the upper structure dedicated to Namaz and the domes, the entire structure still belongs to the Lord Visheshwar temple.

 

Madan Mohan, a lawyer for the Hindu side in cases related to the Gyanvapi mosque, said the tehkhana was given to the Vyas family for worship and other religious rituals under the British in 1809.

 

“Somnath ji was a priest. He had been living near the Gyanvapi area. His family from several generations had been performing religious rituals inside the tehkhana,” Madan Mohan said.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) unveiled startling revelations from its exhaustive 850-page survey report. The report, released on January 25 after submission to the district court in Varanasi on January 21, sheds light on the historical complexities surrounding the existing structure at the Gyanvapi site. The ASI’s comprehensive survey, encompassing scientific studies, architectural remains, artefacts, inscriptions, and sculptures, presents compelling evidence suggesting the pre-existence of a Hindu temple predating the current structure. The report, available with Organiser, highlights the presence of hundreds of artefacts, broken statues, and murtis, reinforcing the assertion of a pre-existing Hindu temple.

 

According to the report, an inscription found in the lower room of the south corridor within the structure commemorates the construction of a mosque during the 20th regnal year of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, corresponding to A.H. 1087 (1676–77 CE). A meticulous comparison between this inscription and a copy made by ASI in 1965–66 uncovered deliberate attempts to erase the final two lines, which mentioned the construction and expansion.