What Is ‘Vyas Ka Tehkhana’? Cellar Inside Gyanvapi Mosque Complex Where Hindus Can Now Do Puja

The District Court of Varanasi on Wednesday granted the Hindu side to worship in the Vyas tehkhana, which is a basement below the Gyanvapi mosque, where idols of Hindu deities were found during the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) survey at the site. The court has also ordered the administration to arrange barricading within seven days.

The Hindu side’s lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain said that the worship in the Vyas basement, which is located in front of Lord Nandi's statue, was stopped by the then-state government in November 1993. He said that the Hindu side has now regained the right to worship, which will be performed daily by the Kashi Vishwanath Trust Board.

The Muslim side had challenged the petition, citing the Place of Worship Act, but the court dismissed their plea and ruled in favour of the Hindus. The Vyas basement was taken over by the district administration on January 17 and excavated during the ASI survey, which revealed evidence of many important Hindu temples in it. The District Magistrate of Varanasi has been appointed as the custodian of the Vyas basement.

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The decision of the lower court came hours after the Allahabad High Court noted that the ASI report on Gyanvapi Mosque was ''worth considering'' and a notice was also served to the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee in this regard. 

Notably, the survey report submitted last month concluded that "there existed a Hindu temple before the construction of the existing structure" at the Gyanvapi mosque complex.