Lucknow. There has been an earthquake in the country’s politics regarding the Gyanvapi Masjid of Banaras. The matter is pending in the High Court. In an interview, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed objection to considering it as a mosque. Both the Hindu-Muslim sides have their own claims and arguments. Since 1991, a legal battle is going on to remove this mosque and build a temple. In such a situation, the book written on Banaras by James Prinsep, the mint officer of the East India Company who surveyed Banaras 200 years ago, and his picture series have once again come into the limelight. The British architect has claimed the Gyanvapi mosque to be a temple in a book written in the 19th century. Describing the Gyanvapi mosque as the Vishweshwar temple, a series of illustrations were published in London between 1830 and 1834 as Banaras Illustrated.
Made an accurate map of Banaras on a scale of 8 inches to a mile
James Prinsep was an orientalist and antiquarian. He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. He is best remembered for deciphering the Kharoshti and Brahmi scripts of ancient India. Prinsep found a position as an Assay Master at the Calcutta Mint and arrived in Calcutta on 15 September 1819 accompanied by his brother Henry Thoby. Within a year in Calcutta, he was sent by his superior, the eminent orientalist Horace Heyman Wilson, to work in Banaras. Philip remained in Banaras till the closure of that mint in 1830. James Prinsep continued to take an interest in architecture in Banaras. He studied and illustrated temple architecture, designed the new mint building in Banaras as well as a church. In 1822 he made a survey of Banaras and prepared an accurate map on a scale of 8 inches to a mile. This map was lithographed in England. He also painted a series of watercolors of monuments and festivals in Banaras, which were sent to London in 1829. Between 1830 and 1834 a series of illustrations was published as Banaras Illustrated.
To save Shivling hid in Gyanvapi well
The Gyanvapi Masjid, also known as the Alamgir Masjid, is adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. In 1669, Mughal invader Aurangzeb demolished the ancient Vishweshwar temple and made this Gyanvapi mosque. Gyanvapi is a Sanskrit word which means well of knowledge. Since 1991, a legal battle is going on to remove this mosque and build a temple. But after the survey in 2022, it is in more churches. It is being claimed that a Shivling of 12.8 diameter has been found in the Vajukhana of the mosque, which was hidden in the Gyanvapi well by the then chief priest to protect it from attack. James Prinsep has described the Gyanvapi Masjid as ‘Vishweshwar Temple’ in his book Banaras Illustrated. In his picture, the original wall of the demolished temple is seen standing in the mosque.
Legal dispute is also recorded in history
In 1936, a case was filed in the District Court against the British Government for the right to offer Namaz in the entire Gyanvapi area. The plaintiff presented seven witnesses, while the British government presented fifteen witnesses. The right to offer Namaz in the Gyanvapi Masjid was clearly given on August 15, 1937, stating that such Namaz cannot be offered anywhere else in the Gyanvapi complex. On 10 April 1942, the High Court upheld the decision of the lower court and dismissed the appeals of the other parties. Pandit Somnath Vyas, Dr. Ramrang Sharma and others filed a suit in the Varanasi court on October 15, 1991 for freedom of worship and construction of a new temple at Gyanvapi. Anjuman Intejamia Masjid and Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board Lucknow challenged this order by filing two petitions in the High Court in 1998. Pandit Somnath Vyas died on 7 March 2000. Former District Public Prosecutor Vijay Shankar Rastogi was appointed litigant in the case on October 11, 2018. On August 17, 2021, 5 women of the city, Rakhi Singh, Lakshmi Devi, Manju Vyas, Sita Sahu and Rekha Pathak, filed a petition in the Varanasi Sessions Court and sought permission for regular worship of Shringar Gauri located in the Gyanvapi Masjid premises, after which the mosque was closed. Survey was done in
What do Hindu traditions say
In 1669, Aurangzeb got this mosque constructed by demolishing the ancient Vishweshwar temple. The places of Shringar Gauri, Shri Ganesh and Hanumanji in the temple premises were also demolished. It is believed that the western wall, which completely looks like the main gate of a temple, will be the entrance of the Shringar Gauri temple, which has been closed with bamboo and clay. There will be a sanctum sanctorum inside the mosque. There is a platform in front of this western wall where there is an idol of Shringar Gauri which is painted with vermilion, this worship is done once a year on the third day of Chaitra Navratri by the Hindu side but before 1991 it was a regular worship on which the then The Mulayam Singh government had banned it. In 2021, a petition was filed for five women to worship regularly in this temple, whose survey was ordered by the court.
Court commissioner Ajay Mishra gave the first survey report
According to Wikipedia, this report is of 6 and 7 May. This is a report of about 2-3 pages. According to this, during the survey conducted on May 6, debris of old temples were found outside the barricading at the corner of the wall from north to west, on which the artwork of gods and goddesses was made and there were other inscriptions, on which the artwork of lotus was seen. On the inner side of the stones some of the artefacts were clearly lotus and other figures in shape, new construction can be seen on the plinth made of ballast cement at the north west corner. Videography of all the above education boards and figures was done. Moving from north to west, the artwork of Sheshnag, Hawthorn-like shape was seen on the middle rock plate. There were also reliefs of vermilion color on the inscription. The deity on the slab, in which the shape of four idols is made, on which sindoori color is applied, the fourth figure, which looks like an idol, has a thick coating of vermilion on it. The inscriptions seem to have been lying on the ground for a long time. At first sight these appear to be fragmented parts of a big building. A pile of debris is lying between the west wall of the mosque inside the barricading. These inscription stones also seem to be a part of them. Some of the artefacts embossed on them look like the artefacts embossed on the back west wall of the mosque. But this survey was stopped due to opposition from the Muslim side.
This survey report is of Special Court Commissioner Vishal Singh
This report is from May 14 to 16, which happened after the protest by the Muslim side. This is a report of about 12-14 pages. Like Ajay Kumar Mishra, in the report of Vishal Singh, it has been said that many signs related to Hindu faith were found in the mosque premises. In the report, information has also been given in detail about the stone being described as Shivling. It has been said in the report that after reducing the water in the Vaju Khana, a circular shape of 2.5 feet appeared, which is like a Shivling. The circular shape is separate white stone with top cut design. Between which there is a hole of half an inch, in which it was found to be 63 cm deep when a sinker was inserted. The plaintiff side called it Shivling, then the defendant side said that it is a fountain, but when the Hindu parties asked to show the said fountain during the survey, then the scribe of the mosque committee expressed his inability to run the fountain. The mosque committee gave a roundabout answer on the fountain. It was said to be closed for the first 20 years and then for 12 years. No place has been found to go to the pipe in the alleged fountain. Referring to the evidence found inside the basement in the report, it has been said that about 2 feet adjacent to the door, about 3 feet above the ground on the wall, there was a shape of betel leaf shaped flower, whose number was 6.
Swastika, Trishul and Paan symbols on the western wall in the basement
There were 4 doors in the basement, in their place the said doors were closed by putting new bricks. There were 4-4 old pillars in the basement, whose height was 8-8 feet. The figures of bells, vases, flowers were made all around the pillar from bottom to top. In between, 02-02 new pillars were made with new bricks, whose videography has been done. Seven lines were carved on a pillar in ancient Hindi language, which was not readable. God’s photo of about 2 feet carton was lying on the ground near the wall on the left side of the door which was stained with mud. The report said that in another basement, broken artefacts of elephant trunk on the western wall and swastika and trishul and paan symbols on the wall stones and its artefacts are carved in large part. Along with this, artifacts like bells are also carved. All these artefacts seem to be of ancient Indian temple style, which is very old, in which some artefacts have been broken.