Lagatar24 Desk
Varanasi, Oct 14: A Varanasi court is set to rule on whether a carbon dating study will be conducted on a reported ‘Shivling’ discovered in the Gyanvapi mosque complex today.
The ‘Shivling’ was discovered earlier this year during a video survey conducted in the Gyanvapi mosque compound on the direction of a lower court in response to a petition from a group of Hindu women asking for permission to hold year-round prayers at a shrine inside the mosque complex. It is still being heard in that case.
Four out of the five Hindu women who submitted the petition last month asked for a ‘scientific probe’ into the ‘Shivling.’ They argued that figuring out its age was essential. The mosque, according to the women, is home to old Hindu deity and goddess idols.
The mosque committee objected to the scientific inquiry, claiming that the case had nothing to do with the mosque’s building and was instead about worshipping at a shrine inside of it. They asserted that the thing being labelled a ‘Shivling’ is actually a ‘fountain.’
The question of whether the alleged ‘Shivling’ can be included in the case and if a scientific study can actually be ordered was raised by the court last week.
On September 12, the Varanasi district judge rejected the mosque committee’s objection, holding that the Hindu women’s request for permission to hold year-round prayers inside the mosque complex lacks legal standing.
