ASI team surveys northern wall, dome and basements at Gyanvapi complex

Varanasi (UP): The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team surveyed the northern wall, the dome and basements of the Gyanvapi complex here on Tuesday, the fourth day of the court-mandated exercise to determine if the mosque was built over a temple.

Members of the Muslim side were also present during the survey.

The ASI team carried out the work of measurement, mapping and photography of the Gyanvapi complex, government counsel Rajesh Mishra said.

The team divided itself into three groups and surveyed the northern wall, the dome and basements of the complex, he said.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the Hindu side's lawyer, said a detailed scientific study is being done inside the premises according to the court order.

Subhash Chaturvedi, another lawyer of the Hindu side, said the ASI team is collecting evidence and besides the dome and pavilion of the complex, the basements were surveyed.

The survey will continue on Wednesday.

On August 3, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a petition by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages Gyanvapi, against a lower court order directing the ASI to survey the mosque.

The High Court order was upheld by the Supreme Court the next day.

On Friday, the first day of the ASI survey, the Muslim side boycotted the exercise.

The mosque's 'wazu khana', where a structure claimed by Hindu litigants to be a 'shivling' exists, will not be part of the survey -- following an earlier Supreme Court order protecting that spot in the complex.

Hindu activists claim that a temple existed earlier at the site and was demolished in the 17th century on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.