Ram Janmbhoomi chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das on Friday said the Court should immediately rule in favour of Hindus as the ASI survey report has established that a temple was present there. ASI report was made public on Thursday and the survey found that a “large Hindu temple” existed there prior to the present structure.
Responding to the report, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das told ANI, "It has always been a temple. It is good that they made their findings public. People will also get to know that it is a temple. Even the court has proof, there is no doubt about it now. The court should immediately rule in favour of the Hindu side so that Hindus start worshipping Lord Shiva soon. Those who say there's a mosque at that site, are absolutely wrong. It is a Shiva Temple.”
The Archaeological Survey of India conducted a survey of the disputed Gyanvapi mosque site recently and the report was shared with the parties on Thursday. The report suggests, "Western wall of the existing structure is the remaining part of a pre-existing Hindu temple".
The report said the mosque was built on the remains of grand Hindu temple. “The Arabic-Persian inscription found inside a room mentions that the mosque was built in the 20th regnal year of Aurangzeb. Hence, the pre-existing structure appears to have been destroyed in the 17th century, during the reign of Aurangzeb, and part of it was modified and reused in the existing structure,” it said.
The report said, “The temple had a big central chamber and at least one chamber to the north, south, east, and west, respectively. Remains of three chambers to the north, south and west still exist, but the remains of the chamber to the east and any further extension of it could not be ascertained physically, as the area is covered under a platform with stone flooring," ANI reported.
"The central chamber of the pre-existing structure forms the central hall of the existing structure. This structure with thick and strong walls, along with all architectural components and floral decorations, was used as the main hall of the mosque. Animal figures carved at the lower ends of the decorated arches of the pre-existing structure were mutilated, and the inner part of the dome is decorated with geometric designs,” it added.
The report said parts of the pre-existing temple were reused for the mosque. "For the enlargement of the mosque and constructing sahan, parts of the pre-existing temple including pillars and pilasters were reused with little modifications. Minute study of the pillars and pilasters in the corridor suggests that they were originally part of the pre-existing Hindu temple. For their reuse in the existing structure, vyala figures carved on either side of lotus medallion were mutilated and after removing the stone mass from the corners that space was decorated with floral design. This observation is supported by two similar pilasters still existing on the northern and southern wall of the western chamber in their original place," the report said.
The experts also recorded a total of 34 inscriptions and 32 estampages. The report said inscriptions in Devanagiri, Grantha, Telugu and Kannada scripts were on the stones of the pre-existing structure. “Three names of deities such as Janardhana, Rudra, and Umesvara are found in these inscriptions. Terms such as Maha-muktimandapa mentioned in three inscriptions is of great significance," the report said.
The lawyer of the Hindu petitioners Vishnu Shankar Jain said they will move to the Supreme Court and demand that the Vazu Tank area should be opened and surveyed.