 "Within the mosque's basement are four 'tehkhanas' (cellars), one of which is still owned by the Vyas family Image Courtesy PTI")
A petition contesting the Varanasi district court’s ruling to let Hindu prayers in the Gyanvapi mosque’s cellar was denied by the Allahabad High Court on Monday.
Judge Rohit Ranjan Agarwal declared, “Hindu prayers in the ‘Vyas Tehkhana’ will continue,” turning down the plea by the mosque committee.
A priest is permitted to lead prayers in the “Vyas Tehkhana,” the southern basement of the Gyanvapi mosque, according to a ruling made last month by the Varanasi district court.
On the plea of Shailendra Kumar Pathak, who claimed that his maternal grandpa Somnath Vyas performed prayers until December 1993, the district court issued its ruling. Since he was a hereditary pujari, Pathak had asked to be permitted to return to the tehkhana and do his puja.
Within the mosque’s basement are four ’tehkhanas’ (cellars), one of which is still owned by the Vyas family.
The petitioner’s version had been denied by the mosque committee. The committee stated that since there were no idols in the cellar, prayers could not be said there until 1993.
On February 15, the Allahabad High Court heard arguments from both sides and postponed making a decision.
An Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report survey that the district court had previously ordered in connection with a related lawsuit had previously suggested that the mosque was built over the ruins of a Hindu Temple during Aurangzeb’s reign.