Yogi Adityanath says Gyanvapi Mosque is actually ‘Lord Shiva temple’

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday expressed his reservations over Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque being called a Muslim place of worship and said that it is rather a ‘temple of Lord Shiva’.
Addressing a gathering at an event in UP’s Gorakhpur, the Chief Minister said, “Unfortunately, people call Gyanvapi a mosque, but it is actually ‘Vishwanath’ (Lord Shiva) himself”.
Yogi Adityanath further maintained that the devotees visiting the site regret the fact that this confusion over its true identity or name is the biggest hurdle not only in the way of worshipping and offering prayers at the site, but also national unity and integrity.
“Had our society ever understood and identified this hurdle in the past, our country would have never been colonised”, the chief minister added.
Several Hindu activists challenge a temple existed earlier at the disputed Gyanvapi mosque site, and it was demolished in the 17th century on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, a claim rejected by the Muslim side.
In February, a Varanasi court allowed Hindu devotees to worship inside the sealed basement of Gyanvapi mosque. As per the court order, Hindu devotees were allowed to offer prayers at ‘Vyas Ka Tekhana’, a restricted area inside Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque.
Earlier this week, the Hindu side requested a court in Varanasi to allow the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to dig in the premises for a survey.
The judge fixed the next date of hearing as September 18 on the petition demanding ASI survey of the remaining parts of the Gyanvapi complex, a lawyer said.